Richard Kroeker

Cambodia Flood Zone Project

This project creates public facilities for a large, dispersed community built on a large basin of low level lakes and rivers in Cambodia. The school, medical clinic, and research laboratory float on the water. These floating facilities are built using bamboo, with bundled bamboo or re-cycled plastic barrels used for buoyancy. They treat their own waste water using water-cleansing plants in contained stabilizing barrels alongside the floating buildings. The public buildings are designed to be towed around the water communities picking up those waiting at the floating pavilions that are covered with a rainwater collecting shade structures. This way of delivering public services is adaptable to many South Asian communities living on growing flood plains and water basins which are a result of climate change. The main bamboo trusses are an adaptation of the roundwood truss construction method.