Singapore non-profit’s low-cost Malaysian school design transforms education for migrant children
- Etania Green School in Sabah, winner of a sustainability award, shows how good design can help inspire a new generation of young thinkers
- It’s hoped it will be the first of 30 schools to be built for thousands of stateless children marginalised because of their legal status
Architect Robert Verrijt has a proposition: designing for the poor shouldn’t equate to poor design.
“There’s a mindset among some who work with the marginalised, that these people should just be happy with what they’re given – no questions asked,” says the Dutch-born chief design officer at billionBricks, a Singapore-based, non-profit design studio.
But children – no matter their socioeconomic background – need quality education, and campus design plays a crucial role in achieving this.
So design was at the forefront of Etania Green School, a proof-of-concept, scalable prototype built for stateless children in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, who otherwise would have no access to education.
Never mind that the location is remote, the site is flood-prone, and the budget barely stretches to a shoestring, this school ensures everyone gets an equal education and opportunity.