On October 25th 2023 Cyclone Lola made landfall on Pentecost island, the third severe tropical cyclone to hit Vanuatu that year, the 3rd Cat 5 in the past 10 yrs and the earliest ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. As with those before, it left the country's housing stock severely depleted and its supporting facilities & infrastructure in need of serious repair/replacement.

Clearly demonstrating the global climate and biodiversity crisis to be very much real and escalating, this also shows many countries on the front line to have very little voice as to global corrective measures. Vanuatu is one such vulnerable country and finds itself largely reliant on foreign aid in the wake of such natural disasters, increasing in both severity and frequency year on year.

Having previously worked in and with local communities on Pentecost, we are very much aware of the need for disaster relief aid. Our skill sets as a design-build collective, on the ground experience, along with existing network of local connections, places us in a unique position to deliver highly effective, cost calculated and clearly communicated projects on the island.

Working in close conjunction with Tanbok Project, a charity focused on broader Vanuatu, we've identified the settlement of Melsisi as the best location for the Bamboo Treatment Facility, selected on a means testing for needs basis, while its central positioning on the island commends it from a material harvesting and distribution perspective.

Given the largely unmanaged nature of the country's current bamboo stock our hope is to give structure to a process of harvesting, treament and contruction designed to give locals a regenerative and long lasting material source. The prototype housing scheme to follow is then intended as a two way design conversation aiming to blend best practice Ni-Vanuatu tradition with modern design interventions in an effort to help communities 'build-back-better'.
Recent 2024 feedback sessions conducted in Melsisi show local collaborators extremely receptive of such housing initiatives and with funding in place we expect to commence between April & October 2026.
While the above proposal is initially contained within the country's dry season 2026, our hope is that a successful pilot will lend itself to incremental roll out among the wider island group over subsequent years. We further hope that positive feedback would gain traction with the Dept. of Industry in our efforts to push for a nation wide 'Location & Species' survey of current bamboo stocks. 
Parallel to this, a post completion review would be undertaken with all involved to identify successful patterns and streamline for effectivity. We would then suggest that either state or private investment be made preparing 'How-To' style manuals and employing local tradespeople to facilitate system future proofing and scaling up.

The core team came together due to their interest in creating regenerative and prototype buildings in climate vulnerable nations. Each team member comes with their own specific skillsets and experience that will aid the development of this project.

Two of the team members, myself and David, met in Fiji whilst building a climate adaptive affordable prototype house there, and due to a scholorship kindly gifted by Bamboo U, we met our third team member, MevCi from Turkey at a bamboo design and build workshop in Indonesia.