TYIN tegnestue architects: cassia coop training centre

‘cassia coop training centre’ by TYIN tegnestuen architects, sumatra, indonesia image © pasi aalto all images courtesy of TYIN tegnestuen architects

french businessman patrick barthelemy approached norwegian practice TYIN tegnestuen architects with a briefcase full of cinnamon and a plight for laborers in sumatra living and working in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. this region of indonesia is responsible for 85% of the global production of cinnamon, however farmers and locals are forced to work long days under poor conditions. just over a year later the ‘cassia coop training centre’ was completed, giving a safer, sanitary and most importantly ethical facility for the community as a fair socially functioning enterprise with proper wages, healthcare and education.

a foot print of 600 square meters is covered with a tilted floating timber and corrugated metal canopy. the massive roof plane is designed to block out sun rays with deep eaves in addition to sheltering a naturally ventilated space and allowing the light wood construction to create the feeling of being in the lush forest. the site finds two durian trees right in the middle, left to grow freely through an open centralcourtyard that serves all surrounding spaces. locally crafted bricks rest on concrete foundations, delineating rooms under the collective roof. the cinnamon tree trunks, normally disregarded by the locals, were collected used throughout the construction, most notably for the doors and windows. the individual masonry buildings house a classroom, laboratory, offices and a kitchen, in what is expected to improve the quality of life of its users.

durian tree in the middle of the courtyard image © pasi aalto

the project, built in around three month’s time, was constructed with a large labor force of 70 local unskilled workers, eight water buffaloes and an on-site saw mill. being prone to frequent earthquakes, each component is structurally independent and possesses differing material frequencies, which so far have withstood more than one earthquake measuring over a magnitude of five on the richter scale.

foldable windows add a contemporary feel and functional pragmatism image © pasi aalto

two durian trees image © pasi aalto

an open floor plan creates a type of miniature infrastructure of buildings under the same floating roof image © pasi aalto

the floor is a combination of stones, concrete, and tiles image © pasi aalto

image © pasi aalto

village local image © pasi aalto

windows contain cinnamon stocks to help filter out direct light and add texture image © pasi aalto

image © pasi aalto

local image © pasi aalto

inside one of the larger buildings image © pasi aalto

image © pasi aalto

separate structure image © pasi aalto

(left) cinnamon infill creates a texture in a window (right) the material contrast between natural stone and rock tiles image © pasi aalto

the floating roof’s light wood structure connects to the ground without inhibiting the flow of space image © pasi aalto

window detail on the masonry wall image © pasi aalto

exterior of facility sitting on a concrete foundation image © pasi aalto

approach image © pasi aalto

large sloping roof plane image © pasi aalto

window detail image © pasi aalto

floor plan / level 0

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elevation

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project info:

location: sungai penuh, kerinchi, sumatra, indonesia client: cassia co-op project: training facility for cinnamon production cost:  30,000 euro time: august – october 2011 built by: tyin tegnestue with local workers sponsored by: link arkitektur architects: gjermund wibe, morten staubo, therese jonassen, kasama yamtree, andreas gjertsen, yashar hanstad students: rozita rahman, bronwyn long, sarah louati, zofia piotrowska, zifeng wei