Wooden House for Eco-tourism Program in Arfak Mountains

I have just finished designing a wooden house for an eco-tourism program in Arfak mountains of Manokwari regency of West Papua. I used Google Sketchup Pro version 8 to create this new tourist house. The wooden house will be constructed in the middle of a tropical jungle below Mt. Soyti some two kilometers away from Kwau village, a trekking and birding destination for tourists who want to experience the natural beauty of the tropical rainforest of New Guinea island.

After designing the wooden house and composing a proposal for its construction, I gave it to Hans Mandacan, one of the villagers. He will lobby the government officials both in tourism agency and department of forestry of West Papua province and Manokwari regency. According to Hans, the officials give positive comments for the project. However, they need to get approval from the legislative council for the next year budget's allocation where the tourist house will be included in their list.

I hope that this wooden house will boost the eco-tourism program in Arfak mountains and at the same time increase the prosperity of the indigenous Papuan people who live in the region. Wood as the main material for the construction of this wooden house will not be taken from the nearby forest but from the town of Manokwari. I suggest to Hans to seriously preserve the tropical trees in their village's territory. by Charles Roring
3 Oct 2012 Update
The wooden house for tourists is now being constructed in Arfak mountains. The design which I created has been changed by the contractor. I haven't seen the new design but I hope that it will be comfortable for the tourists.
7 April 2013 Update
The physical construction of the guesthouse has finished. There finished house is different from the above design. It is built above the ground and fully made of iron wood. Guests who want to stay in this guesthouse are required to bring their own sleeping bag. Please, contact me, by email to peace4wp@gmail.com if you plan to go to Arfak mountains.  So far two guests already stayed in the house - one from the Netherlands and the other from Singapore. The rate is Rp. 100,000/person/night or approximately 11 US dollars/person/night.  by Charles Roring

Water tower and Well Design for villagers in Kebar

Last week I designed a tourist house for Kwau village, it is a timber frame construction. Tonight, I have just designed a well and a simple water tower made of wood for villagers in Kebar valley of Manokwari regency of West Papua. I use Google Sketchup 8 Professional to design this model. The well will supply clean water for the villagers. According to the preliminary information that I got from Yerry (a school teacher in Asiti village of District Senopi) the water collected in the well will be pumped by an electric water pump. Actually for a remote region like Kebar where electrical power is limited, another scheme should be introduced. I prefer wind turbine to electric pump. The depth of the well is 11 meter where as the height of the water tower is 2.85 meters. The capacity of water tank 6.28 cubic meters. So, it will not be enough for the whole village. Perhaps, the village needs around 8 to 10 wells. 

The walls of the well are made of concrete material whose thickness are 10 centimeters. For the water tower, I choose hard Merbau timber with the dimension of 10cm x 10 cm as the wooden pillars that will support the tank. Wooden construction is the cheapest one due to the abundance of trees in the surrounding area. However, I don't recommend cutting trees as the solution for the increasing need of timber material in West Papua. I recommend the use of naturally fallen trees in the rainforest as the material for building the tower or even houses in Kebar village.

Google Sketchup is a light yet very powerful 2D and 3D modelling that I recommend to all architects around the world. I needed around 3.5 hours to make the design and calculation of construction materials for the well, floor, wooden water tower and the water tank.  I hope that people in Kebar will be able to enjoy clean water in the near future. by Charles Roring