Building From Plastic: “A Social Housing Design For Low-income Families In Gambia Using Plastic As A Construction Material”

Housing plays a vital role in human life and society.It has a direct and immediate influence on the health,education,economy,environment,political and social life of any society^[92].Housing is termed affordable when its cost is no more than 30 percent of the income of the occupant household^[13].Families or households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing may have difficulties affording other necessities such as food,education,transportation,medical care,and clothing^[104].Urbanization in recent years has shown to be a global phenomenon that is experienced by cities across the globe.The ratio of urban to rural settlers has undergone a paradigm shift and as of 2007,more than 50%of the world’s population is residing in cities and towns than in rural areas and it is projected to increase to two-thirds by 2050.The shortage of housing in developing countries especially for individuals within the low-income group is becoming an immense problem.The high cost of construction using conventional methods is slowing the housing industry’s ability to meet the demands of its population which is on a rapid increase.This thesis proposes a design of a housing complex that reuses plastic bottle waste and converts them into useful construction materials to build homes that are cost-effective for low-income families in the Gambia.The double courtyard of the“compound”layout in traditional Gambian housing design is employed to promote social interaction between residents.A compressive strength test is conducted to compare the strength of the proposed PET brick wall.Previous cases of recycling plastic bottles as construction materials are investigated.And a method that uses different size bottles in construction is presented.The aim of the study is to offer an alternative building technique in the Gambia that provides affordable housing while recycling some of the PET bottles in municipality waste that end up on landfills and drains.