Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp 

Rizvi Hassan

ARCHITECTS
Rizvi Hassan

LANDSCAPE
Hindupara Community Members

CLIENTS
Forcefully Displaced Myanmar Nationals & Bangladeshi Host Community In Kutupalong, Supported By Unhcr & Brac

MANUFACTURERS
Sketchup, Autocad, Bsrm, Ma, Motaleb Steels, Shah Cement

DESIGN TEAM
Rizvi Hassan, Saad Ben Mostafa, Kamal Bhai, Rubel Bhai, Rajpoti Shil, Syedullah

ENGINEERING
Biplobhossain, Hasantarek, Mostafizur Rahman, Sagor Mondol, Abdul Latif

COLLABORATORS
Unhcr, Brac, Shah Alam, Shahidul Islam Khan, Tahrima Akhtar, Sheikh Jahidur Rahman

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Rizvi Hassan

PHOTOGRAPHS
Rizvi Hassan

AREA
221 M²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Bangladesh

CATEGORY
Community Center

Text description provided by architect.

Hindupara community is the minority group among Rohingya refugees who are now living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Kutupalong. Host communities in Bangladesh have been sharing their resources, land & everyday life for more than two years now.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

As the host communities are very nearby, Hindupara Integrated Community Center was designed to build a sharing platform that will try to create aspiration for the surrounding, and be a catalyst for better communication between refugees and host community as well as majority and minority groups.

Community members of Hindupara and members from adjacent hosting community have got the scope to come forward to create the center together from which they can be benefited in terms of psycho-social support, training, case management and knowledge sharing.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

They created patterns and painted their center and created the scope to open up or may be to be a bit more tolerable to each other. Engaging craftsmen & users in the creative process during construction and after automatically makes everyone put a little more effort towards creating and conserving in their own way.

After construction, Rajpoti Shil apa (member of Hindu-para community) and her team selected all the necessary trees and plants that can be planted within the complex as well as can be used in different ceremonies and needs. Gada, Joba, Golap, Kathal Chapa, Barota, Morichha etc. were selected to use the flowers in Puja and other ceremonies.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

For other purposes like leaf, medicinal benefit and fruits Bel, Kola, Tulshi, Aam etc. came to proposal by the users. Sharing stories and landscaping together immediately helped everyone get introduced to the newly built environment.

The largest refugee camp has been formed in a very short time with immense amount of work and intensive use of local resources. Rapid use of non-treated bamboo, tarpaulin and straw has made the camp grow like an organic entity in the emergency period.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

'The total national supply of bamboo is diminishing over time, whilst demand is growing'-Humanitarian Bamboo Technical Report. Structural bamboos require almost 3 years re-growing & other partitioning bamboos (i.e Muli/Nali/Ora/Khag/Dolu etc.) require 1 year.

Unless proper planning is established for harvesting and safely treating Borak bamboo in nearby areas (for lower cost and easy availability in intervals) alternative schemes can play vital roles in the development phase of the camp.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

Hence steel comes as an immediate alternative solution which is easily available as the steel industry in Bangladesh is based in the nearby port city Chittagong. A deployable scheme with steel members as primary structure and flat-pack modules has been designed to ensure less wastage of resources, transportability, reusability and clean construction/ease of construction.

The scheme consists of a basic base, steel skeleton, modular partitioning as the skin and simple double pitched roof that works as an umbrella in this sub-tropical monsoon climate.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan

Muli bamboo in-fill in the modular system offers contextual essence and makes the structure relatable to Rohingya Refugees as well as local villagers.

In this transitional period, structures in camp require to be better in terms of dignity and usability within temporary schemes. For that, deployable/reusable systems that are contextual and adaptable can set examples. It also makes foreign aid a thoughtful investment, instead of mere charity in a humanitarian context.

Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan


Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
© Rizvi Hassan


Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
Site surroundings
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
Site plan


Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
North elevation
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
East elevation


Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
Exploded layers diagram
Integrated Community Center in Hindu-paraRohingya Refugee Camp
Module detail