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Design Blog Design Blog » Design for the Other 90% » Salvage Shed

Salvage Shed

Salvage Shed

Many families are still crowded into one-bedroom FEMA trailers even 2 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast. The Building Goodness Foundation has been providing relief to these cramped conditions building extra rooms for storage or a living room, even an extra bedroom. Over 150 of these extra rooms have been built in Pearlington, MS.

Brad Guy of Building Materials Reuse Association with the help of Bryan Bell and Sergio Palleroni decided to use material from the 50,000 houses being demolished after the hurricane — just 5% of this material equals 53,000,000 board feet, enough to build 3,800 houses. With the help of Design Corps’ Summer Studio students who studied re-use and community design they built 2 test sheds. The results have been well received by the clients. Matt Abel was hiding tools in the woods while he built his home, now he has a place to safely store them. Billy Ray Raine, a senior volunteer coordinator, a fisherman will have a working unit to clean and provide food for his family. In both cases the rooms met the exact needs of the clients.

As examples of successful re-use of salvaged materials the sheds showcase alternative solutions to the purchase new materials. The sheds are simple, economical solutions using local materials to solve the immediate and pressing needs for the multitude still waiting for relief.

About the Author: Cynthia E. Smith is Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

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Comments

  1. job well done

    bill | Oct 25, 06:25 PM

  2. I heard the Governor of Mississippi state today that there are still 13,000 families living in FEMA trailers.

    Bryan Bell | Oct 25, 06:25 PM

  3. Thank you including a link to our site. This fall, the Building Goodness Foundation is breaking ground on a 6000 sq ft community center in Pearlington. We hope to use reclaimed materials for the exterior finishing. You may be interested in visiting http://vmdo.typepad.com. May we use some of the above information in our publications? thanks, Melissa Ronayne, BGF Community Outreach Coordinator

    Melissa | Oct 25, 06:26 PM

  4. Thanks for highlighting this project. Correction: I organized this project as Director of Operations at the Hamer Center for Community Design at Penn State University and it was offered as a Summer Program by Penn State University and funded by the Oak Hill Fund.

    I actually heard a figure of 18,000 FEMA trailers still in operation in MS alone and there is no question that a hurricane of minimal strength in the region this season will easily destroy them.

    Brad Guy | Oct 25, 06:26 PM

  5. Are the plans for the shed pictured above available for those interested in building?

    Liza Pryor | Oct 25, 06:27 PM

  6. Thank you for coming to the Gulf Coast to help this summer. As of the second anniversary of Katrina, according to FEMA officials there were still 17,000 trailers in Mississippi. That figure does not take into account people who moved in with family or friends, or people who were not able to get trailers and are still living in damaged homes. Please keep working on alternatives to ease the housing crisis.

    www.reelrelief.com

    Ella Kliger | Oct 25, 06:27 PM

  7. A BIG round of applause to all of the people involved in this exhibition and the various projects it highlights. It is one of the most relevant, inspiring and thought-provoking exhibitions I have seen in a long time. The art world needs more work like this!!! Right on… simply fabulous!!!

    Jennifer Zazo | Oct 25, 06:27 PM

  8. One goal of the shed project is to have an instruction manual about the way to build one. I am told by Bryan Bell of Design Corps they are in process of putting the manual together as any drawings done during the summer were drawn on scraps of wood and paper.

    Cynthia E. Smith | Oct 25, 06:28 PM

  9. it would have been nice to have seen illustrated plans of the salvage shed.

    steve flynn | Jul 21, 07:55 PM

  10. You can find more information about this project, along with contact information, at the following location:
    http://www.basicinitiative.org/programs/global_communities/Shed_Design.htm

    I would suggest contacting the architects, designers and students involved in the project to directly discuss any drawings they may have.

    Cynthia E. Smith | Aug 19, 05:01 PM

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