The insulated and affordable home ‘Slumtube’ has been made of discarded pallets and other local materials like clay and straw. The new eco-friendly home has been designed to withstand the extremely hot and cold temperatures of Johannesburg.
Schnetzer and Gregor have designed the home in a circular form reducing the need for expansive beams. The home is designed and built to European standards for structural soundness. The new semi-circular houses were built in three months time. Slumtube is first used to accommodate European students who volunteered to educate the community’s children. In the future, the structure will be used to house residents of the township, improving their standard of living.
The project was sponsored by the Austrian government (BMVIT and FFG) in cooperation with the Technical University of Vienna.
According to the designers, pallet houses could replace low-cost shelters in slums and in refugee camps, which could be built easily by locals with local materials.
