91视频

It was the project of a lifetime. A team of volunteers 鈥� mostly Andersen Construction and YBA Architects employees 鈥� traveled from the Pacific Northwest to South Africa to construct a new school building for a community in need.

鈥淚t was really exciting to have people come together from all our offices and work on something that’s so different from what our day-to-day looks like,鈥� said Maddy Stolowitz, director of philanthropy for Portland-based general contractor Andersen Construction. 鈥淚t was being in a community every day with people I care about and it was about doing something important in service (for) other people. We got to be outside every day and work until we were so tired we could barely stay awake through dinner. And then you got to get up in the morning and do it again. It doesn’t get much better than that.鈥�

The group 鈥� 38 people in all 鈥� traveled in July to the tiny village of Dixie, South Africa, to build a new classroom structure for the Hananani Primary School. In barely two weeks the team completed the project with the help of workers from South African contractor EcoSteps, local residents and employees of the Thornybush Collection. The latter is the company that runs the nearby Thornybush Game Reserve and also supports Hananani Primary School operations.

Work on site kicked off in July when volunteers and family members reached a pair of Conex boxes shipped several months earlier from Portland. The containers not only held tools, materials and other supplies, but also became an integral part of the construction.

But that point was really just the end of the beginning.

鈥淎 lot of this was (Andersen Construction CEO) Joel Andersen’s brainchild,鈥� said Alex Yale, a YBA Architects principal and a member of the traveling party. 鈥淥riginally he was there on a separate trip and visited the school and was really taken aback by the people there and the kids, and met the principal and saw a great need to add classroom space.鈥�

That was summer 2017, Stolowitz said, and the goal of that trip was to seek out exactly such an opportunity.

鈥淲hile we were there we stopped at Hananani School and spoke with Concelia, the principal,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd Joel was just so impressed by her. He promised Concelia he would be back, but I just didn’t believe it was going to happen. It seemed crazy to me in the best way, but that’s how things go with Joel. He has an incredible heart and vision, and he inspires people.鈥�

Upon returning to the U.S., Andersen approached Yale about the idea.

鈥淗e came back from that trip and sat down with me and said, 鈥楢lex, how do we do this?’鈥� Yale said. 鈥淭he concept was to ship over a lot of the building materials and get as much donated from here as possible. But the challenge was: 鈥楬ey, Alex, we only have a week or two; how do we build this in a week or two?’鈥�

That’s when Yale came up with an efficient solution.

鈥淲e used the two 40-foot-long shipping containers as the principal structures and used them as two sides,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we opened the two sides to the middle and put trusses across and we found we can build this building really fast 鈥� almost like an IKEA kit.鈥�

Over the course of 2018 and into 2019, Yale and fellow YBA co-founder Matt Brown worked with their Andersen counterparts on the project’s design and logistics. They drew up a construction schedule.

鈥淭he challenge was we worked almost two years in research and development over here with the superintendents from Andersen to design the school 鈥� the classroom building 鈥� as a kit of parts that could be shipped over there and could be built rapidly,鈥� Yale said. 鈥淭he big vision was: Let’s do all the design; let’s try it out and figure out the stakes ourselves and then we’ll post everything to the Internet and open-source the design.鈥�

They quickly figured out that additional labor would be required. Fortunately, Thornybush and its outreach coordinator, Candace Grover, put out a call for help.

鈥淲e worked together for over a year organizing the logistics,鈥� Stolowitz said.

They established an application process for laborers.

鈥淲e hired 40 locals that we brought on, and they showed up every day to work,鈥� Andersen Construction superintendent Paul Rovianek said. 鈥淥ne of Joel’s goals was to infuse capital back into the local community, so each person went through an interview. We brought in old, young, male and female to help, and paid them a very good wage.鈥�

Priority was given to people with children attending the school, as well as specific families in need.

鈥淚t was a very careful project in that they also engaged with the local tribe leader and really got the buy-in from the local communities,鈥� Stolowitz said. 鈥淭hat was a really big piece; we really did engage with the local community.鈥�

Andersen Construction senior project manager Brad Nile was one of the volunteer participants. He even brought his two children along. Grover and the Thornybush staff provided a 鈥渓ifeline鈥� for the project, Nile said.

鈥淏ecause they’re on the ground, they know the chief in the village and made arrangements for local help and local materials,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey got permission at a local level to do what we wanted to do. This had to be a community effort, not a short-term dive bomb and leave. It had to be something the community was behind 100 percent, and that’s what our friends at Thornybush helped with.鈥�

Aside from construction of the new school building, other work was carried out. This included painting the interior and exterior, making five existing school buildings level, improving those buildings’ heating and cooling systems, building outdoor seating pods, erecting a covered parking structure and community sunshade, and making a soccer field level.

The hands-on construction process was nothing like the Andersen contingent had ever experienced. For instance, brick is by far the predominant building material used in South Africa.

鈥淵ou can’t get a mortgage in Dixie,鈥� Rovianek said. 鈥淵ou buy materials, lime, sand, a brick mold, and when water’s abundant you build with bricks. People are constantly in one way or another making or using or building with bricks.鈥�

For this job the team used concrete for the foundation slab and other features. But without a ready supply available, all of it had to be mixed by hand on-site.

鈥淲e poured so much concrete,鈥� Nile said with a laugh. 鈥淎nd it was ugly, and by city of Portland standards I’d have been fired like five times. But we had architects helping us with the design, and it worked.鈥�

Old desks and furniture donated by Portland Public Schools were shipped to outfit the new building.

Steel roof trusses were shipped inside the containers and welded into place within a few days. Then the exterior walls were roughed in with plaster and the roof was completed.

Finally, the new building was adorned with a tiled mural displaying a light bulb and the school logo, and the existing buildings were repainted. The two sides of the shipping containers cut out were even repurposed and used to construct a covered parking structure.

鈥淓coSteps went out and bought light gauge tube steel and our welders constructed a nifty little canopy structure carport,鈥� Rovianek said. 鈥淭he panels that were cut out of the containers became the roof, and that was the slickest little three-day carport you’ll likely see.鈥�

When work wrapped up, the entire village threw a celebration and feast to commemorate the new building.

The project had a profound impact on participants, Nile said.

鈥淚 don’t think any of us were prepared for how emotionally connected we would become,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn’t realize it would change our outlook on life, and it made us realize we’re fortunate to live the way we do.鈥�

Plus, the Dixie community is expected to continue to benefit from the visit.

鈥淥ne of the biggest skills we taught was concrete,鈥� Yale said. 鈥淲e taught them finishing concrete 鈥� pouring it, mixing it 鈥� as well as painting. The women were learning different skills they generally don’t use and don’t have, so that was really cool.

鈥淲e were sprinting on this stuff and teaching life skills to these 40-plus locals that they can now take to other jobs in the village,鈥� he continued. 鈥淥r if they want to venture out and look for more work, they have skills. In the bush, really, you’re stuck and the only way out is through education.鈥�