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Project Details:

Location: Santa Cruz, Galápagos Island, Ecuador

Architect: Diana Salvador

Footprint: 1,085 square feet

Builder: Diana Salvador

Builder: Las Manos Sucias

Structural Engineer: Patricio Cevallos

Bioclimatic Design: YES Innovation

Photographer: JAG Studio / @jag_studio

From the Architect: “Named after the endemic birds from Galápagos Islands, Sula (genus of suliform birds commonly called boobies) is a prefabricated house that was molded and structured in Quito for two months and assembled on Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos. It is composed by about 2,000 different custom-made wood, metal, aluminum, and glass pieces, which need over 17,000 screws and pins to put together the whole building. Every single piece was organized, wrapped and baled in two containers, and transported to the port of Guayaquil, and shipped to Puerto Ayora. The assembling process was carried out by four plant technicians and six employees, who traveled from the continent for multiple specialized activities, for a total period of four weeks.

“Designing and creating a prefabricated house in continental Ecuador, and transporting it in pieces to the Galapagos Islands is only possible with true commitment for innovation. This kind of projects are an opportunity to send a message to the world, to give mankind new possibilities for development and be aware that it is likely to built high quality infrastructure without negatively impacting the environment. The designing and molding process for Sula gives us the opportunity to understand that being environmentally aware also means to achieve the greatest possible optimization process in every human activity.

“This home has been created for a family who have been residents of the islands for more than 40 years. The premise of the design has been to create a sensitive and respectful habitat. Scalability, transportation flexibility, and adaptation to the context and industrialization of processes have allowed us to use resources very efficiently. Most importantly of all, we have been able to travel with architecture and take it to other latitudes different from the place it was conceived.

"The design reconciles function with interior comfort by proposing bioclimatic strategies justified in dynamic thermal simulations. Elevating the building forms a cold air chamber under the structure that keeps the structure cool. The walls next to the roof generate a double space separated by the structural beams, thus forming another air chamber that ensures ventilation of the interior skin. Perforations in the floor and walls allow a cross supply of air.

“Elevating the house also facilitates possible disassembly in case it needs to be relocated. Sula has its pieces counted, it works as a large-scale three-dimensional puzzle that can be transported in a truck and implanted in all types of environments.The use of concrete is minimized to the maximum, using gabions as foundations, we have been able to increase the possibility to dismantle in case of relocation. Above all, the structural design has been conceived so it would not affect the ground and soil of the implantation site.”

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It Took Four Weeks to Assemble This Prefab A-Frame in the Galápagos Islands