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ONE of the more modern house designs used by the Spinifex People at Tjuntjuntjara on the WA side of the Great Victorian Desert. Photo by Peter Terry.
Indigenous housing: Building 'a shelter to conduct the business of living'
By Dr Emma Rooksby
JUST how different are the housing needs of Aboriginal families compared with those of other Australians?
A research study now out from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) shows clearly how inappropriate a "mainstream" self-contained 3-bedroom house can be in a remote indigenous community.
For example, according to the authors, a house designed for a remote Aboriginal family should have kitchen and bathroom large enough for up to four times the usual number of residents. It should also have a wide semi-enclosed veranda, separate shade structures outdoors and extra toilet blocks nearby so that the visitors can stay without overcrowding the house.
The release of the report, "Towards a design framework for Indigenous housing," can only be described as very timely. There is a general consensus that current approaches to Indigenous housing are not working well. Government at all levels is now contributing substantial sums towards rectifying what amounts to an Indigenous housing crisis. (In April, the Federal Government announced funding of $547 million for an Indigenous community housing initiative in the Northern Territory, on top of major investment in the 2007 budget and the Intervention in the Northern Territory.)
AHURI's design framework is intended as a "practical reference guide for policy makers and built environment professionals responsible for the design, procurement, construction and management of remote Indigenous housing" (p.85). The authors stress that it is not intended to be prescriptive or a 'one size fits all' approach to the complex economic, environmental and technical challenges involved.
Based on a set of detailed case studies and extensive consultation, the framework links key dimensions of sustainability to a sequence of housing design and management steps, with appropriate consultation throughout the sequence. The researchers identified six dimensions of sustainability relevant to Indigenous housing (p.87):
- Cultural appropriateness
- Eco-efficiency
- Healthy living practices
- Employment opportunities and economic development
- Lifecycle costing, to include both the cost of construction, planned repair and maintenance
- Innovation in procurement, ownership and construction systems.
These dimensions are applied to each of phase in the design, construction and management process; the report provides some best practice principles for each phase.
The authors stress sustainability as the key focus of the design framework; sustainability is seen as an umbrella under which many other considerations fit. For instance, choice of construction method and materials can impact on social sustainability as well as the longevity of buildings: the choice of local or easy-to-assemble construction materials, allowing the use of local labour, can provide medium-term employment prospects for community members, whereas other construction choices (such as use of concrete slabs) would require the use of expert workers unlikely to live in the community (p65).
One point made repeatedly in the report, and which underlies its approach to Indigenous housing design, is the need to recognise that Indigenous families see housing differently from the European tradition: as "shelter, around which they conduct the business of living," and not as a "home" inside which most domestic activity takes place (p.70).
Many Indigenous communities also prefer informal and fluid living arrangements and value features not typically included in Australian housing design, such as orientation towards the "country" of residents, air circulation, and outdoor cooking and sanitation facilities (p.33). Indigenous Australians, both individuals and families, are also highly mobile, meaning that housing needs to accommodate large numbers of visitors at times.
The framework incorporates these and other cultural features of Indigenous communities that affect their housing needs. Although different communities may have more specific needs, the framework proposes that Indigenous Australians as a whole need an approach to housing design quite different from the self-contained 3-bedroom houses so typical of mainstream Australian housing.
In a series of best practice principles, the design framework illustrates some relatively affordable and straightforward ways to accommodate these needs, for example by providing flexible accommodation for large and variable numbers of people: measures such as "appropriately sized bedrooms and living spaces, well positioned and screened verandas, detached shade structures, and additional showers and toilets" are recommended (p.76) Hallways should be wide enough to allow for additional sleeping and storage spaces when required (p.99). Outdoor cooking facilities and washbasins are also recommended as suiting the outdoors-based lifestyle typical of many Indigenous communities. And all bedrooms should have two-way access, to "ensure the safety and security of individuals" (p.99).
Designing for over-crowding and heavy use of facilities are also recommended; the heavy maintenance requirements of some Indigenous housing in the past may have been the result of overcrowding and overuse, rather than abuse (p.90) The report also recommends that "construction, repair and maintenance of housing are used to catalyse the local economy and create opportunities for employment training" (p.102).
The cultural diversity of Indigenous communities, living under a variety of climatic and geographic conditions, makes consultation an essential element of the design framework. For example, the report notes that "consultation is vital in the planning of the original settlement layout, the configuration of streets and blocks, the location of family and kinship groups, and the locating and siting and possible clustering of houses on blocks" (p.95).
Principles relating to construction, planning at the settlement level, procurement and maintenance are also included in AHURI's report, illustrating how community involvement in the design and construction processes can contribute to social sustainability, and how a well-designed housing management and maintenance system can keep properties in good condition.
The scan also showed:
Cool houses in the desert?
Meanwhile, a report from the DesertKnowledge Cooperative Research Centre investigates what type of housing design gives the best insulation from extremes of heat and cold in the desert. The report notes that the issue of thermal performance is a vital one: 27% of Indigenous houses in desert areas are so hot in summer that inhabitants' health is endangered. The report says there is significant untapped potential for passive heating and cooling techniques to keep desert housing comfortable for the inhabitants. Perhaps more surprisingly, the researchers found that energy efficiency amendments to the Building Code of Australia would not be effective if applied in desert areas; alternative approaches, including solar passive design, are explored in the report. One of the latest projects from the cooperative research centre, "Sustainable Settlements," is ongoing. Among other objectives, it aims to "develop knowledge about the flow of resources and built systems that impact on people's ability to live sustainably and express their needs in and among settlements."
Aboriginal architecture?
When Europeans first reached Perth, settlements of low domed structures were dotted all along the Swan River. According to Queensland University architect and anthropologist Paul Memmott, half-domes and three-eighth domes were the architectural forms most often used by Aboriginals before the arrival of Europeans. In a new book he tells how the domes were used as shelters, windbreaks, shade structures and enclosures. Professor Memmott also lays to rest the myth that pre-colonial Aboriginals did not construct permanent dwellings. He says he is aiming to make practical use of Indigenous building materials and use such things as spinifex in future aboriginal housing. "There's lessons about Aboriginal housing to be learned, and there are more potential innovative ideas that could be generated from such understandings," he says.
