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Foreword
Robert Plattner
MD
small businesses on the back of a single Hydraform
blockmaking machine. Some of these entrepreneurs are
travelling around their countries, bidding for and building
houses, schools, churches and even clinics and hospitals
in far-flung communities in the developing world.
This is the fundamental reason why we have come
to believe that Hydraform, as a company and with its
machines, can enable socio-economic transformation in
the developing world. It is one of the reasons we have
resolved, as our mission, to be active participants with our
customers and stakeholders in the field and to develop
innovative products that continue to suit the needs of our
markets.
It is also why we have equipped the Hydraform Training
Academy to be mobile and to travel to any country in
the world in order to train customers on the Hydraform
Building System as well as in the operation of our many
different models of machines.
In the coming years the Hydraform Building System
will be used by governments and individuals alike as
the pressure for shelter increases to unprecedented
levels. And in keeping with our core values of Innovation,
Production Excellence, Teamwork and Customer Focus,
we expect to continue to lead this relatively new industry in
stabilised earth construction from the front.
That leadership can only be achieved by never losing
sight of the need for quality in the final product – the soil-
cement block – thereby continuing to enable building to
standards that far outperform the usual levels found in
low-cost construction projects.
Human development
Hydraform realised long ago that when upgrades in living
conditions are undertaken, be it by governments or by
aid organisations, the people directly involved in the
communities affected need to be the primary beneficiaries
of the resulting economic upturn. Indeed, the training
provided by Hydraform delivers skills desperately needed
to build or rebuild communities while also creating new
employment opportunities, immediately and into the future.
Another advantage of the Hydraform Building System
is that it can be classified as a low environmental impact
system that enables efficient utilisation of local material
resources. This advantage is key in developing economies
where more conventional building materials are in short
supply or frightfully expensive.
It is also advantageous when it comes to urbanisation
and slum-upgrading, key challenges encountered in many
countries of the developing world. As ever more of the
world’s rural population migrates to the cities, Hydraform
is perfectly positioned to assist in addressing this
developmental challenge for the benefit of governments
and citizens alike.
We firmly believe that the primary objective of housing
development needs to change from the provision of
houses which are habitable and acceptable to one
in which the health and safety of residents takes
precedence. Homes must also be easy to maintain, should
address environmental challenges and provide significant
employment opportunity in the construction, alteration and
refurbishment sectors.
A Hydraform house is not a single object, it is a way of
life for many years to come.
A Hydraform house comforts families and helps to
underpin family values.
...a single Hydraform blockmaking machine can provide
the material to build over 100 houses per year... [and]
create employment opportunities – and valuable skills
development – for as many as 20 or 30 people.
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