Portland Homeless Storage

AWB-Oregon is working with JOIN, a Portland non-profit organization, to design a facility where homeless people can store their possessions. During AWB's 2014 educational focus on homelessness issues, storage was identified as a critical need for people who want to engage in daily pursuits such as job interviews, personal hygiene, and securing social services.  The project team is currently working on several design ideas addressing a variety of installation circumstances (church/host parking lots, vacant city lots, building interior spaces, etc.). Considerations include cost, availability of materials, ease of maintenance, staffing requirements, and aesthetics.

Northeast Emergency Food Program

Architects Without Borders-Oregon worked with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon to improve delivery, storage, security and user comfort for the emergency food distribution service in what was formerly a poorly drained gravel side yard at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland.  The enhanced courtyard and garden will also provide space for church community activities and gardening.

Bon Repos Orphanage

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti damaged thousands of structures, including a classroom building at the Bon Repos Orphanage, located in a suburb of Port-au-Prince. AWB-Oregon is working with The Good Shepherd Church of Boring, Oregon to repair this three-story building and perform a seismic upgrade. The work involves constructing a set of reinforced concrete shear walls to alleviate structural deficiencies, and moving damaged bearing walls to more structurally advantageous locations. In Spring 2014 an AWB volunteer from KPFF Consulting Engineers traveled to Haiti to work onsite with the Good Shepherd team, and another AWB volunteer trained local workers to lay concrete block. Work on the building's second story will begin in Fall 2014.

Minzoto School

The Minzoto School in Dungu, Democratic Republic of Congo, was destroyed in the devastation inflicted on that country by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Today, the Friends of Minzoto School have partnered with Architects Without Borders - Oregon in their effort to rebuild.  The project aims to create new and refurbished classrooms, latrines, and hand washing stations for 537 students and their teachers.

Wahkiakum County, WA Space Planning

Wahkiakum County (population 4,000) in rural Southwest Washington has turned to AWB for help with space and site planning for its Health & Human Services campus. Located in the county seat of Cathlamet, the campus consists of five buildings originally built for the State of Washington Forestry Department. Goals for the reconfigured spaces include grouping staff to support efficient work teams, organizing services for client-friendly delivery, and minimizing construction  costs.

Red Sweater Project School Master Plan

The Red Sweater Project is an Oregon-based non-profit providing non-denominational, affordable secondary education to rural Tanzanians. AWB-Oregon provided a masterplan for Red Sweater’s Mungere School campus which began with 40 students in 2012 and is intended to gradually expand to include 16 classrooms for several hundred students, a dining hall, sports fields, and housing for volunteer teachers. Having a master plan both aides in Red Sweater’s fundraising efforts and provides a framework for phased, coordinated growth. 

The Red Sweater Project previously constructed two classrooms, a temporary kitchen, water supply and latrine with the assistance of Engineers Without Borders. The AWB team based the master plan on prototype classroom buildings and our detailed plans for the science labs and the computer training classroom which will also will function as a community meeting room.