The campus is a 85,000 sq ft strip of land (650' x 130') located on a hill in the Southwest of San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala. The land leans towards the South with an average slope of 18 degrees.
Considerable earthwork and 2000 feet of rammed-earth retaining walls were required in order to create leveled areas for the buildings and the outdoor spaces. All the surplus of earth stemming from this process was used as a construction material for the campus buildings and the retaining walls.
The campus is still under construction but already presents an indoor usable space of 8050 sq ft spread between 9 buildings. In addition, there is 15110 sq ft of usable outdoor space, with 7160 sq ft of it covered.
Due to the good ground quality and the predominance of low-rise construction on the campus, all the buildings could be founded directly on insidious earth. The main structural systems used throughout the campus are rammed-earth tires, earthbag domes, bamboo trusses and concrete shells. The total quantity of repurposed tires is about 15,000.
Rainwater is collected on most of the campus buildings, for a total capture area of 11,500 sq ft. For the buildings located on the North edge of the land, water is channeled towards a 42,500 gallon cistern located under the school library. This cistern is the biggest water storage facility on the campus. It fills up during the rainy season and is used to supply water to the other buildings in the dry season. In addition, some of the buildings have individual water storage systems, bringing the total storage capacity on campus to 50,000 gallons.
There are 6 dry compost latrines in order to limit water consumption and contamination. The campus also presents its own natural septic system with a total capacity of 25,000 gallons to treat waste water coming from the few regular toilets. Most of the greywater produced on the campus is actually not sent to the system in order to use it for irrigation.
The electric system was set up to be able to work with both solar power and grid connection.
Hero School Campus
The campus is a 85,000 sq ft strip of land (650' x 130') located on a hill in the Southwest of San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala. The land leans towards the South with an average slope of 18 degrees.
Considerable earthwork and 2000 feet of rammed-earth retaining walls were required in order to create leveled areas for the buildings and the outdoor spaces. All the surplus of earth stemming from this process was used as a construction material for the campus buildings and the retaining walls.
The campus is still under construction but already presents an indoor usable space of 8050 sq ft spread between 9 buildings. In addition, there is 15110 sq ft of usable outdoor space, with 7160 sq ft of it covered.
Due to the good ground quality and the predominance of low-rise construction on the campus, all the buildings could be founded directly on insidious earth. The main structural systems used throughout the campus are rammed-earth tires, earthbag domes, bamboo trusses and concrete shells. The total quantity of repurposed tires is about 15,000.
Rainwater is collected on most of the campus buildings, for a total capture area of 11,500 sq ft. For the buildings located on the North edge of the land, water is channeled towards a 42,500 gallon cistern located under the school library. This cistern is the biggest water storage facility on the campus. It fills up during the rainy season and is used to supply water to the other buildings in the dry season. In addition, some of the buildings have individual water storage systems, bringing the total storage capacity on campus to 50,000 gallons.
There are 6 dry compost latrines in order to limit water consumption and contamination. The campus also presents its own natural septic system with a total capacity of 25,000 gallons to treat waste water coming from the few regular toilets. Most of the greywater produced on the campus is actually not sent to the system in order to use it for irrigation.
The electric system was set up to be able to work with both solar power and grid connection.
Full Process -
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