BAYANiJuan; A Proposed Community Enrichment Facility

National University - Manila

Project idea

In the province, the term Bayan is a place that describes where the public market, schools, churches, medical facilities, government buildings, community halls, and other commercial buildings are often located. “BAYANiJuan” is a proposed Community Enrichment Facility that is inspired by the spirit of “Bayanihan,” meaning, working together as a community to achieve a common goal. It is composed of two components that need to be united; the Community Enrichment Facility, symbolizing the word “Bayan” with its establishments, and “Juan” which means the users or the individuals within the community. BAYANiJuan is equipped with facilities that are designed to promote bayanihan between the spaces and the community, which will lead them to improve and uplift their way of living.
Our proposal is designed with the use of locally acquired materials like bamboo and cogon grass. It features a bamboo lattice accordion wall, operable louvers, jalousie window, and cogon grass roof which plays a vital role in passive lighting and ventilation.
Bamboo is also used for bambooponics, integrated farming using bamboo and water as a growing medium instead of soil. Using this method can provide a livelihood to the community that will uplift their lives and can be an alternative source of income.
In addition, to improve the spirit bayanihan, BAYANiJuan introduces the use of BIOGAS as a renewable source of energy which unites the community to bring their green waste or any organic waste to the portable biogas digester. Those collected green waste will be desulfurized to produce biogas and use it to power portable generators and cooking stove especially during evacuation.
During calamities, BAYANiJuan is designed to cater and protect 50 families with the use of a modular evacuation bed constructed with bamboo as its mainframe and covered with users’ home curtains for privacy. The modular evacuation bed can convert to an isolation unit during a pandemic.
One of the purposes of BAYANiJuan is to bring the facilities and establishments that are located in “Bayan” like educational, health care, and hall. With the help of BAYANiJuan, users from the community will not tend to go far since BAYANiJuan provides their basic needs especially in education and health care. Multipurpose hall for general assembly, livelihood training, and other events that will improve their camaraderie as a community, to achieve one goal.

Project description

The project is a proposed design and planning of community enrichment facilities that can be converted to an evacuation center during calamities. using abundantly sourced materials within the area to make it cost-effective to be built.

Technical information

The proposed site of “A Community Enrichment Facility” is located at Brgy. Lapaz, Municipality of Cabatuan, Province of Isabela. The municipality of Cabatuan is a 3rd Class Municipality in the said province.
Being a major rice-producing town, it is the home of several rice mills and rice traders, dubbed as the Land of the Golden Grains. The site is adjacent to the Housing Project of the Municipality where most of the beneficiaries are farmers and under the low to middle-income earners.
There is also an adjacent number of residential units on the North-East side of the site. The two communities (Pabahay Community and Residential Area Community) will be the target beneficiaries and users of the project “A Community Enrichment Facility”.
The project has a total floor area of 369 sqm in a 700 sqm perimeter with the capacity of 50 families averaging 5 members during calamity. it is equipped with facilities like a community clinic, kindergarten classroom, community kitchen, dining area, multi-purpose area, offices of the community officials, public toilet and bath, and a biogas digester room to provide and meet the users' satisfaction.