Michael Reynolds, a well-known proponent of sustainable building and the creator of the Earthship house, will construct a self-sufficient public school in Jaureguiberry, Uruguay, reports local newspaper El País.
Reynolds’ design contemplates a 270-square-meter building with solar panels and a water-collection system that will supply water for the bathrooms and kitchens. In the architect’s usual style, recycled materials such as tires and bottles will be used for construction.
Learn more about the project after the break.
After constructing a Music School on Chile’s Easter Island and carrying out two projects in Argentina, Reynolds visited Uruguay to discuss the execution of Latin America’s “first self-sustaining school.”
Construction on the school is set to begin on November 1 with the help of 60 volunteers, and is being supported by República University’s School of Architecture and the US Embassy in Uruguay.
“Construction will last eight weeks and it will be carried out with volunteers from here [Uruguay] and abroad,” Reynolds told local paper República. “The planning we do together; they gave us a housing construction system and we adapted the plan. It will be carried out in distinct phases. The internal finishing, including electricity and plumbing, everything will be completed in 8 weeks. It’s a self-sustaining building that collects and stores water – within its walls – and generates electricity with solar panels, which are used to illuminate and heat the building.”
