1. Background 2. Objective

• To develop re-blocking plans and housing designs with the process wherein the structural stability of the existing structures shall be secured.
• To provide housing plans which are required in securing building permits based on the participation of the community.

3. Process

• Individual assessment of existing houses

All existing structures in the community has no technical plans and building permits, so we conducted an assessment of their existing houses in order to know which part of it will be affected by the reblocking. And if reblocked the question will be, is it still structurally sound?

During this process, we get to know the manner of construction the community did to build their houses. Some of them have no structural columns but with existing beams, others were already deteriorating. Aside from the structural components, we also get the chance to check their sanitation and electrical connections during this process. Wherein we saw the need to also fix or improve its existing conditions.

• Validation of plans vs. existing structures

We draft the as-built plans. Then we go back to the community to validate if the drafted plans were accurate in accordance to the existing structure. We check if it is correct and if there were parts missing or have been added that was not in existence.

During this process we also did consultations with the owner. We explain the as-built plan and which part will be affected by the reblocking. We explain how critical or easy will it be for their structures. We also seek their insights and take some inputs on how to re-plan their houses. We asked them what they want to add or which part is essential for them to improve given the fact that a part will be removed. In this process, we managed to gather inputs on how we will do the re-planning or redesigning of their houses base on their needs.

• Drafting of schematic designs and presentation to the community.

Base on the inputs given by the community, we provide schematic designs showing the new layout of their houses. In this process we formalized the ideas they provided and draft it technically. Then after drafting the designs, we present it to the community for them to check if we captured their ideas correctly or almost near to it.

During this process we get to understand more the thoughts of each housing participant. Why they came up with that kind of design? For what is the purpose of it? We also provided them with estimates and explained it so that they will have an idea how much it will cost to build their houses. In this process they saw the realistic side of their designs given the budget constraints.

One of the challenges we encountered was how to create uniformity in the design given the fact that the planning of each house will be based on the existing. On the part of the community they also desire to have at least a common design that will create an identity for them. So what we did, we made different model designs of the exterior façade. We presented it to them and explained the concepts how it can relate to the community and how they can improve its appearance in the long run. The association also presented it to all the members during their general assembly, and they made their choices. The design they choose will be the common exterior design to be adapted in the entire community.

• Finalization of plans

After the presentation and consultation on the schematic designs, we drafted its almost final designs with complete details on architectural, structural, electrical and plumbing. These plans if the structure owners would already agree, it will be drafted as final for building permit application.

During this process we still made consultations with the structure owners to finalization the plans and explained to them that this final output will be the design to be implemented during construction. We also finalize the cost estimates for each structure and explained to the owners the total construction cost.
 
4. Next Action Plan
TAMPEI plans to continue assisting the community until the completion of the project. For 2015 we plan to: 

• Finish all building plans by the end of December and the community can submit it for building permit application in the Office of the Building Official.
• Conduct a procurement workshop and materials familiarization by January 2015 in preparation for their construction.
• Start with construction by February 2015.
• Conduct an orientation to the Architecture students of Bulacan State University, especially those who are graduating, to gather more student volunteers / interns who can assist during construction.
• Create a process documentation of the project.