ecoBiblioteca update -Project is taking shape!

Good news from Cacica! The construction process of ecoBiblioteca is advancing very quickly. Workers  are constantly digging, measuring, cutting or mounting something, all under the careful direction of  Site Manager PhD. Bogdan Draganescu of Smart&Pepper.

During my first  visit on site, last week,  the northern slope of the roof had been cleared of the asbestos layer and  the new roofing of shingles was starting to be mounted.    Half of the roof shingles on the northern side have been mounted over a period of just one day  by a team of very hard-working craftsmen from nearby.

The roof was extended with an overhang of 30 centimeters from the first rafter, in order to protect the walls from the rain, and a deck was added beneath for the same purposes. We’ve decided to salvage and reuse all the materials from the former storage room that was deconstructed and so most of the battens that support the shingles are pieces of wood from the old building’s roof that are given a new life.

And, by the way, the shingles are a local opportunity : most people in Cacica buy them in large quantities and keep them stored in the backyard for occasional roof replacements. Most of the time, the shingles just lay there, occupying precious space, so the locals were glad to get rid of them, selling them to the ecoBiblioteca team, who are always happy to promote traditional technologies. It’s a win-win situation!

But that isn’t the only thing the team has done last week. Foundation holes have been dug to support the future porch access area (also in the north). Due to the heavy and frequent rain characteristic to the area, the foundation can’t be made in just one  shot, so the workers dig it piece by piece, by a 1 meter distance between the sections. The holes are then filled with concrete and, after it dries, the next holes are dug and the process repeats until the foundation of the porch is ready.

There was more digging involved in the building’s existing foundation area, that needs to be insulated. The existing foundation is completely made of stone blocks. Due to its irregularities,  underground insulation can’t be attached, therefore the team had to obtain a plane surface by pouring about 7-10 centimeters of cement in front of the stones. On this vertical surface, the thermal insulation will be added.

Finding new uses for old things is important to the ecoBiblioteca team, so all of the material that came from the deconstruction of some parts of the building was separetely stored, in order to be reused locally. For instance, the mix of rubble and brick fragments will become part of the base of a local road, that the mayor is building, along with the 5 tonne of debris that used to be the building’s ceiling.

By the time this post was added, I received news of the ecoBiblioteca banner being installed on site. It’s a busy weekend for Cacica, with the upcoming pilgrimage to the Cathedral next to our site, related to Saint Mary on the 15th of August. Hope our project will also become one of the visitors’ interesting things to see here.

Glad to be a part of this team,

Arch.Luiza Hanc