The Shelter

Eco-design expert and Dumped guru, Rob Holdway, gives you the lowdown on our volunteers, rubbish and waste and Dumped.

What did you think of the shelter that the volunteers came up with? Did they try hard enough?

The first night they lived in an old shipping container. The next day this was taken away. Luckily they had two practical members of the group – carpenter Darren and Navy engineer Nashy. Over half of landfill comes from construction waste so there was lots of material to choose from. The basic instinct was survival so they knocked an ‘A’ frame tent up quickly using old scaffolding poles and blue tarpaulin. Between them and the floor were wooden pallets and a bit of boarding. This was a really basic structure – functional yet predictable. It wasn’t sexy. They were all packed in like sardines with Jam farting and Nashy snoring it wasn’t exactly the best place to spend one night (and yes, I did) let alone 3 weeks.  At this early stage the group couldn’t see the real potential of the material on the DUMP.

You didn’t seem that impressed with their shelter, how would you have done it differently?

The first thought for anyone in this situation has to be SURVIVAL. It was important to build a shelter, but their design was basic and unambitious. I wasn’t impressed. The shelter could have been an inspirational demonstration of what you can build from waste. Many of the materials on site have excellent structural properties and can be decorative as well. YET, they built an ugly ‘A’ frame tent! Dark, low ceiling, open at both ends, sleeping pretty much on the ground. Once, this was built there was a sense of malaise in the camp. This’ll do. It's good enough. We can survive.  They could have made themselves more comfortable, and given themselves much better protection from the elements.

What other materials could they have used?

There are so many materials that could have been used to create a ‘home’ rather than a shelter. Think about the properties of the material on the dump that can provide a habitable space to live. Wood, windows, cloth, plastic bottles etc all have potential. I suggested a basic wooden structure orientated towards the sun. Walls could have been constructed from old tyres and plastic water bottles offering a combination of insulation and light. A tyre wall could have been curved and added a real sense of elegance to the structure. Old textile waste could have been used to insulate the floor. Wooden crates stacked upon each other would have made good raised beds. Plastic sheeting could have been used as a blind, or sunroof. Closed at night and pulled back during the day to let air and light in – that’s more like a home.

Do you feel that they could have been more comfortable if they’d gone for a different kind of shelter?

Indeed. The group were living in a confined space on top of each other, and yet didn’t consider partitioning this space or adapting it for different uses. Would you want to sleep next to a farting snoring stranger for three weeks? At night they slept. During the day they sat outside. Luckily it didn’t rain. There were beds on the DUMP yet it took a week for Jason to bring one into the shelter! The rest of the group slept on the floor.   If they had partitioned the space, they could have had a living area and sleeping area, and they could even have had separate bedrooms and made storage spaces for themselves too.