Calgary engineering students design low-cost housing
By JENNA MCMURRAY, SUN MEDIA
Sea-cans and shipping containers were among the building materials that Calgary
engineering students worked into their designs of affordable housing complexes.
As part of a compulsory design class, 650 Schulich School of Engineering students were asked to help out with the "Housing First" component
of Calgary's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness by designing affordable housing complexes for less fortunate Calgarians.
"Tapping into the minds of Calgary's post-secondary students in a great way to develop creative new ways of building affordable housing and
help address challenges vulnerable Calgarians face," said Tim Richter, president and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation.
The students assembled 24 prototypes while keeping cost, sustainability, client needs, and green building materials in mind.
"It's low cost and you can create modular units out of them," said first year student Keith Low, whose group designed 350 sq. ft. units to be built
with seas-cans, which cost $2,000 each.
"It's basically a Lego building," said Low, of the units, which were stacked together to create a multi-apartment complex .
Besides working to eliminate homelessness in Calgary, the project also gives students some practical hands-on experience.
"I want to be an architect, so this project is my baby," said Gourav Neogi, adding his group worked to design their model to meet the standards
of the U of C's architecture faculty.
