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When architect Gauri Rajbaidya was 17, he left his native Nepal after winning a scholarship to United World College-USA in New Mexico. There, he and other international students were given the charge to 鈥済o out in the world and do something good,鈥� he said.

Rajbaidya has taken that to heart, and joined other volunteers from Architects Without Borders‘ Oregon chapter to help design a seismically-sound schoolhouse prototype. BuildOn, an international nonprofit, will rely on that model when it soon starts constructing the three-room structures in western Nepal.

After living in this country for 22 years, Rajbaidya, a SERA Architects associate, became a U.S. citizen earlier this year. He had to give up his Nepal citizenship, but his love for his country of origin has endured. Rajbaidya has participated in other pro bono projects, but this collaboration was different.

鈥淭his one is from my heart,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s where I grew up. It’s a very proud moment for me to give back, and we wanted to see this built. But it’s taken a long time.鈥�

Such efforts move slowly in Nepal, Rajbaidya said. He took plans for a seismically-sound schoolhouse to Nepal in 2013, two years before a devastating earthquake killed more than 8,000 people, left approximately 3.5 million people homeless and seriously damaged Rajbaidya’s mother’s home in Kathmandu. Now, projects are being approved by local authorities, and Nepalese craftsmen and local resources are lined up. BuildOn plans to construct about eight to 10 schoolhouses each year in Nepal; no maximum number has been determined.

In addition to Rajbaidya, the prototype design team included John Medvec, associate principal at Yost Grube Hall Architecture, and Craig Totten, principal at KPFF Consulting Engineers. Medvec, architect and project manager for the team, said Architects Without Borders worked with buildOn to design school buildings in Haiti after an earthquake there in 2010 killed more than 100,000 people. About 30 of the Haiti schoolhouses 鈥� designed to withstand both earthquakes and hurricanes 鈥� have already been constructed by buildOn, he said. More schools will be built in the coming years, he added.

The challenge in Nepal, Medvec said, was learning to use local materials and resources, which can be scarce. Concrete will be mixed on site and bricks will be formed by hand, he said.

鈥淲e used a lot of manual labor (in Haiti) and the same is true in Nepal,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e came up with a system that’s easily built and will withstand the seismic forces we see in this area.鈥�

The Nepal schoolhouses will have no plumbing, heat or electricity, Medvec said, which presented more design problems. But the team first had to adapt to local technology.

鈥淲e had to redesign the trusses a couple of times because of the steel shapes that we could get and the quality level of the steel,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n more remote areas it’s often difficult to get the same kind of materials you would expect to get in a more urban environment.鈥�

Nepal has experienced 鈥渕assive deforestation,鈥� Rajbaidya said; only the school’s door will be made of wood.

The design has gone through many iterations, Rajbaidya said, mainly to save money. Although his team worked for free, the cost of the 1,180-square-foot building is assumed by the local community and buildOn.

The first schools will be built in Dhangadhi, a town of about 100,000 near the border with India. The climate there is much milder than in Nepal’s mountainous areas; however, in the winter, with no heat, kids just bundle up, he said. Schools close during the harshest winter months. But during the summer months, temperatures can reach the 90s.

鈥淎t one point we did a shed roof system with a fairly interesting truss system, but the budget came out too high,鈥� Rajbaidya said. 鈥淲e also had more clerestory openings for the wind to move through in the hot summer, but we had to take those out to bring the cost per school down.鈥�

Despite those adjustments, the seismic ability of the building is sound, Totten said. Consigned masonry construction, with concrete columns and beams, will ensure that schoolhouses withstand an earthquake.

鈥淚t will give the same performance as a reinforced masonry wall,鈥� he said.

The final design was completed in June, Totten said. Building permits are in process and construction should start by the end of the year.

Design Beyond Borders is a 91视频 feature offering a look at the projects outside of Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91视频 architecture and engineering reporter Beverly Corbell at 503-802-7224 or [email protected].