Woodless construction: an overview
Practical Action
such as the doum palm (Hyphaena
thebaica) hitherto highly favoured
for their ability to resist termite
attack and to provide good
structural strength and durability,
has become both extremely
difficult and expensive, and
indeed some species of trees have
almost disappeared in whole
regions. Now most of the wood
used for building will only last a
couple of years because of termite
attack, and so the cutting of trees
increases. Cutting trees requires a
paid permit, so much of this
activity is clandestine and risky.
The Sahel has been blighted by
years of drought, and there is no Figure 2: The simplest round houses replace traditional organic
doubt that this has in many ways shelters.
contributed to the disappearance
of trees, but the biggest direct cause of degradation is over-consumption by man contributing to the
loss of entire forests. The inhabitants know this and are keen to find alternatives.
Woodless Construction was introduced as a viable, affordable and accessible alternative to this dual
problem - how to alleviate pressure on the threatened natural resources of the region and at the same
time to make building by the population easier. Woodless Construction today is about helping men
and women generate revenues, manage their environment and resources, and restore pride in their
abilities to build decent, durable and affordable buildings in a region where there is a rich tradition
of earth building.
Time to listen, observe, adapt
Woodless Construction
activities in West Africa started
in Niger in 1980 and have
evolved from an initial "one-off”
demonstration and training
course run by Development
Workshop (DW) at the request if
another NGO, ISAID, in Niger2.
Thirty years later, Development
Workshop operates a major
programme promoting Woodless
Construction in Burkina Faso,
and trains hundreds of builders
in Woodless Construction every
year, DW also supports women
potters who make ceramic
products that are used in the
woodless buildings, such as
Figure 3: Women potters are helped to produce fuel efficient
products using CSB kilns.
ceramic floor tiles and gutters,
produced in fuel efficient kilns built by DW trained builders using woodless construction techniques.
1Relations entre Habitat Humain et Ressources Naturelles, Thesis, Grenoble School of Architecture; Development Workshop,
Évaluation desbâtiments et des techniques de construction dans le Cercle de Youvarou, DW/IUCN, 1991; Hammer, D.,
Tunley P. and Development Workshop, lférouane - Habitat en évolution, DW/ IUCN/WWF 1991.
2 After ten years of experience using these technologies in Iran and Egypt where they have existed for centuries,
Development Workshop introduced woodless vaults and domes to Niger in 1980, at the request of a small Canadian NGO,
ISAID, in the context of a rural development programme in Chikal, Niger. Over the next 8 years, support from this and other
projects, and notably the WWF/IUCN's project for the Conservation and Management of Natural Resources in the Air-Ténéré
in northern Niger, laid the groundwork for the development of the Woodless Construction programme.
2