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Case Study: Angola
A typical example of this sort of project began in the
Angolan fishing village Equimina in 2012. The village
was selected by the government of Benguela Province
as a pilot programme to establish if it is possible to
build low-cost housing on a small budget without
compromising quality.
The Equimina development consists of 66 units intended
to replace the shacks that people of the area had occupied
until then. Each home was built to a design template
specifying three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living
area over an area of 104m
2
.
The initial project time was specified as six months.
However, alterations to the project plan along with the time
needed to recruit and train a local work force extended
this by around six weeks. At its productive peak, the site
employed almost 100 people, 70% of whom were from the
local community.
The local government has declared itself satisfied with
the result of the pilot programme and intends to use
Hydraform technology for most of the 1 240 houses it
needs to build in the province.
Rebuilding a
fishing village
Lower costs than is possible with traditional
building techniques have resulted in the Hydraform
building system frequently being used for social
housing projects.
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