Women’s Refuge Nina Huasi
Cuenca, Ecuador

Nina Huasi is a women’s shelter of the Fundación María Amor based in Cuenca, Ecuador. Nina Huasi was established in collaboration with Caritas Vorarlberg between February 2012 and December 2013. Since 2014, the new women’s shelter of Fundación María Amor has been in use. Ecuador is located in the northwest of South America, Cuenca is the its largest city. It has an altitude of 2560 meters above the sea level. The city center is characterized by colonial buildings. The pre-existing women’s shelter, the one existing already before this project, was in the center of the city.

Nina Huasi is located a bit outside. There are eight women’s shelters in Ecuador. In these women’s shelters, women affected by violence can find support. In these facilities they are cared for by social workers, lawyers, and psychologists. The support is very diverse. Sometimes a few counseling sessions are enough, other women need temporary or even long-term protection and a place to stay. Women are accommodated as long as there is still danger and until they are strong enough to manage their lives independently.

However, women usually do not come alone. They also bring their children with them. On average, at Fundación María Amor, one woman brings four children. Some women even come with eight children. The women’s shelter of Fundación María Amor has existed since 2003. Soon the space became no longer sufficient, and a larger option was searched. The site of the new women’s shelter is located at 2700 meters in the rural area outside of Cuenca. At this altitude, it often gets quite chilly at night.

It can drop to five degrees. The road is not paved, and during the rainy season it can get quite bumpy. Most of existing buildings have been renovated: a total of 890 square meters of usable space have been renovated and 1000 square meters have been newly constructed. The planning started in July 2011. The first renovation work began in February 2012. By December 2013, the construction was completed. In the plan, you can see the existing buildings that were renovated in a darker gray.

The lighter buildings are the new additions. In the upper right, we see the Cabañas as we found them. Cabañas are elongated houses located directly on the road. We also retained two classrooms in the lower left. In the lower right, the house with the tent roof has also been renovated. The front area of the Cabañas is the caretaker’s house. He is on site 24 hours a day. The middle part of the Cabañas is for administration, and in the back area there is also space for volunteers.

The middle turquoise-marked buildings are dedicated to the children. There, they play and work with them. In the center, a playground is being created. In the orange-marked building, which is also the building that already existed and was renovated, work is being done. There are the offices of the social workers, the lawyer, and the psychologists who work with the women. The green-marked buildings are the living quarters. Someone from the team is always on site, 24 hours a day. Thus, they also need a place. This is the orange-marked building. And of course, a kitchen is essential, which is shown in yellow on the plan. Sustainability of the project was particularly important to us.

We started with an intensive collaboration with the team to understand the needs. To then develop a good spatial concept, that is well coordinated. To consider the necessary square meters, but also not to be too generous and save costs. The women who were admitted at that time also participated in many workshops and shared their opinions. Involving the neighborhood contributes to social sustainability. Many men from the neighborhood have worked on the construction site.

On the other hand, women’s groups also helped us find the plant sisal, which we partially used for thermal insulation. The region is also very well known for its brick production. And we also used bricks in our construction, sourcing them from the neighborhood. On the construction site we had Mingas, which are traditional work groups, with up to 80 people on some Saturdays. Students and pupils helped out, some students also did an internship with us, which they received credit for at university.

And they helped us in the office, for example with model building or developing the plans. The adobe construction was perfect for these work groups. It was important to us to convey a message to the young people, namely, that you can still build with adobe, that you can achieve beautiful results. We also wanted to educate them on the issue of violence against women. We also worked with international volunteers.

In the summer of 2012, for example, 20 volunteers from the Caritas Vorarlberg came and helped for eight weeks. In this group, there were professional craftsmen, but also some young people with not much practical experience. It is important to properly utilize volunteers, so that this experience becomes a success. A year later, in July 2013, a volunteer group from Ecuador came from the organization Somos Ecuador. They also helped us significantly. They built the children’s playground.

It was really important to us, to reach as many people as possible, to make them aware that you can work with alternative building materials and also implement other ecologically sustainable measures. The women and children who were still in the women’s shelter at that time also helped with the Mingas. And the team also pitched in. What was so important for us to convey, were all the ecological aspects of this construction.

We tried to apply many natural building materials and revive traditional construction methods and give them a new touch. The traditional building materials of adobe and clay have no great recognition in society. They are seen as building materials for the poor. All the more important was to create a beautiful ambiance from these materials, highlight the building physics advantages and show that you can also create very beautiful details with these materials.

On one hand, we used wood, even from our own property: there were many eucalyptus trees. We preferred to replace them with native trees, because eucalyptus is unfortunately a soil thief and does not leave many nutrients for other plants. That was very exciting, because it really turned out to be challenging to fell the trees at the right time and to dry them properly. Some of the logs did split on us, but we were able to use almost all of them. That was nice. Bamboo was also used.

That is not common in the Sierra, because it actually grows on the coast. But it’s not that far away. It takes exactly four hours by car to get to Guayaquil. We accepted that and also wanted to try bamboo in the Sierra. Bamboo is truly a fascinating building material. It is so strong and at the same time so light. You can create incredibly beautiful details. It is aesthetically very valuable. We naturally had the advantage that bamboo grows in this region and is also used for building.

That means people knew exactly how it should be treated. And we were also lucky to assemble a really great construction team. They were also Colombians, especially in Colombia they know how to work with bamboo. Inside, a small indoor playground was created, also made of bamboo.

If you want to build ecologically sustainably, the motto is always Stay Local. And there is probably nothing more local than the earth from the construction pit. Traditionally, in Ecuador, especially in the other region, buildings were always made with clay. But nowadays, clay is hardly used anymore. Houses are mostly built with concrete blocks. At Nino Huasi, we applied various clay building techniques or rather, also redefined and combined them. In the Bahareque construction method, wooden frame walls or bamboo frame walls are used.

In some cases, a lost formwork is installed, these thin bamboo sticks. Clay is then filled in the middle. And when that is uniform, the plaster can be applied. This lost formwork made of thin bamboo sticks also serves as a plaster base. It was very important to us to achieve a fine plaster. For that, we experimented a lot. We also placed value on a nice edge finish that could be also robust. For that, we inserted jute at all edges and plastered it in.

As the coarse plaster is created, we incorporated relatively a lot of straw. The red bricks were obtained from old broken roof tiles. We inserted these into the wall, which also helped the plaster to adhere better to the wall. After the coarse plaster, the fine plaster was applied. We had to paint it very vigorously. That means we had to add a relatively big amount of sand. Here you can see, that we also incorporated sisal into the walls.

This is a plant with stems that have a lot of air, so it’s perfect insulation. However, the collected sisal was not enough for all the exterior walls. So we also mixed in a relatively big amount of straw into all the exterior walls. Our roof: here you can see how the a small thermal insulation is applied. Bamboo mats were placed on the load-bearing structure, and on top of that came a layer of lightweight clay, then a waterproof layer. And on that, we placed the roof tiles.

As everyone knows, warm air rises. Therefore, roof insulation is certainly the most efficient insulation. The clay walls need to be protected from water. A waterproof base area keeps splash water away from the clay walls when it rains. Both roof overhangs help to keep rainwater off from above.

In the children’s area, we worked with the Superadobe construction method. This was particularly suitable, as round shapes were desired in the floor plan. In the Superadobe construction method, plastic bags are filled with earth. Often, smaller individual bags are used. However, we opted for a continuous bag, because then the stability is better. The stone base of this building is at least 30 cm high. On top of that comes a separating layer. And then the first adobe sausages are placed. This construction method is very labor-intensive.

We also utilized the many hands we had from the volunteers from Vorarlberg. With this construction method, you can take the earth directly from the site without having to add much. The earth is simply loosened, sieved, moistened, and then it is filled directly into the bags. And then the bags are compacted. The bags are connected to each other with wooden stakes. Additionally, small projections stabilize the entire construction. The round shapes also help with static stability. A 10 cm high reinforced concrete pressure ring completes the walls.

The roof is based on an independent support system, namely made of bamboo. The entire load-bearing structure of the roof is made of bamboo. And on top of that, a green roof. After the walls have dried for three to five weeks, we removed the bags as much as possible and started with the plastering. During the plastering, we were also helped by many students and pupils. However, the finishing work was always completed by trained craftsmen.

At the property boundary, which is visible from the road, we raised the stone walls with Superadobe strands, to provide better privacy. Here we realized our first Superadobe experiments. It made sense to start with straight walls first. We also installed clay floors. For this, we made many samples to find the right mixture. The best result we got from a sample where we also mixed in some ash. First, there was a coarse layer and then a fine layer was worked on top.

This was repaired until there were no cracks. In the end, the floor was treated with linseed oil. The clay floors in the living areas lasted relatively long, but now – after ten years – they were replaced. The rearranging of furniture and the changing residents pose a challenge. The clay floors require careful, considerate handling of the floor itself and also need a lot of maintenance. On the other hand, clay provides a very pleasant indoor climate. During the day, it stores heat and at night – when it is cold – it slowly releases it again.

Many recycled materials were also used in the Nina Huasi. We made our way with demolition materials from an old road. Only the small colorful stones were produced by us. A dragon at the playground, which was constructed from old tires. Women and children who helped clean the old roof tiles, so that they could be reused. By creating a green roof, part of the green spaces that were destroyed by construction can be compensated. Additionally, green roofs help to reduce heat loss at night. Our green roofs are flat roofs, so a properly executed sealing is very important. Also, root protection must be considered. We were lucky to find a company in Cuenca that had these materials available.

All newly installed toilets are dry toilets. That means, no water is needed. In our case, they are separating toilets, where urine is separated from feces. This brings several advantages. On one hand, feces are kept drier and thus there are no major odor problems. On the other hand, urine is not contaminated and can be used directly as fertilizer. The feces fall into a container that is placed under the toilets. Each container is equipped with wheels, so that easy transport is possible.

For the walls of the sanitary facilities, burnt bricks were used. Theoretically, one could also use clay walls here. However, they would need to be impregnated in a relatively elaborate way for bathrooms. This did not seem sensible to us for such an institution. At Nina Huasi, the produced compost soil is used for that purpose. Otherwise, one could also use sawdust, ash, or lime. The containers are taken to the compost site for emptying at regular intervals.

At Nina Huasi, it was important for us to keep the entire house wheelchair accessible. Therefore, it was out of the question for us to raise the dry toilets, as is often customary. We went down outside and installed a ramp system, to easily transport the containers where the feces fall in later, to be able to transport them away. The feces mixed with the dry material are brought to the compost site and processed there. Also, the other biological waste from the house is added here. At Nina Huasi, composting is done with worms. This product after composting is a total nutrient-rich compost soil, which is used in the gardens at the back of the property.

At Nina Huasi, the gray water is filtered by two biofilter systems, plant treatment systems. In the picture, you can see how this plant treatment system was constructed and can trace the breakthrough. In this case, we first have four pre-chambers here, where the solid materials settle down and lighter, greasy materials float and are then skimmed off. The solid materials are then excavated from these chambers at regular intervals. Then the pre-cleaned water flows into these two basins, where it is further purified through various layers of gravel as well as by the plants.

The last basin is then the collection basin for the cleaned water. Rainwater is also added here. Here we have the filtered water for the toilets of the Cabañas reused. Additionally, the filtered water is also used for irrigating the gardens. The rainwater from all sloped roof areas is collected and directed to the water reservoirs that are distributed throughout the property.

Directly at the equator, perfect conditions prevail to utilize solar energy. In consultation with experts, the roof of the laundry was then positioned at the optimal angle and orientation. Solar panels were installed on it for hot water generation, as well as a small photovoltaic system. The photovoltaic system primarily serves as a backup. Sometimes the power goes out, and it is good to have a little reserve, so that the computers do not all crash immediately. It was also important to illuminate the property and the paths at night, as it does get dark relatively early at the equator, around 6:30 pm. For this, small solar lamps were also installed, small independent systems. Each lamp has a small battery. This way, we saved a lot of wiring.

A pleasant indoor climate was very important to us. Nina Huasi is located at almost 3000 meters and at night it often cools down to 5 degrees. All exterior walls of the living units are insulated with straw, the roofs with lightweight clay, and the patios of the living units function like a small winter garden. They are covered with transparent polycarbonate panels. For safety reasons, we chose the polycarbonate panels, because normally in Ecuador regular glass and not safety glass is used.

That would have been too dangerous: during the day the patio heats up. The walls of the living units that face the patio are all made of pure clay. They absorb the heat from the patio and store it. At night, when it gets cold, they slowly release the heat. In the back area of the property, a garden was created. With the nutrient-rich compost soil, the water, the gray water filtration system, and of course the equatorial sun, everything thrives here.

The women learn about cultivation and can earn a little extra income. It is said that working with the earth is very healing. Sustainability consists of three pillars. The ecological, the social and the economic sustainability. Through various measures, we were also able to influence the economic sustainability at Nina Huasi. Throughout the entire project, we kept an eye out for in-kind donations. For example, we received most of the tiles for free. Nina Huasi also wants to demonstrate how costs can be reduced through recycling.

We had leftover bamboo. From that, we were able to build the children’s playground. We were also able to create an additional fence, which was necessary, to provide even more privacy and protection in general. By using renewable energy, we can also reduce the monthly expenses of Nina Huasi in the long term. The yields from the permaculture garden are sold or used in the catering program. The women who are admitted can learn a new craft, to become economically independent.

In implementing the project, it helped us a lot that my colleague Marion Burger, as project manager, and I, as the architect, were permanently on site. As with every project, there were of course smaller and larger challenges. The biggest challenge came only after completion, namely the operation of the entire facility and maintenance. Clay walls need to be maintained more often than other walls. The containers of the dry toilets must be emptied regularly, the compost must be processed, and the biofilter cannot tolerate every cleaning agent. Both the staff and the admitted women, who change very frequently, must be continuously trained. And all of this alongside the daily tasks of the women’s house. Nina Huasi thanks all governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions, that have participated in the project.