Project Title & Location
VILLAGE FOR FAMILIES OF THE HANDICAPPED
Sudlon, Cebu City

Client
NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City

Project Completion
1981

Associated Firms
Design Management and Development Corporation
GALHIA

Services Provided
- Site Development Planning
- Architectural and Engineering Design

More than a hundred families were in need for permanent shelter and an ample means of livelihood when the Ministry of Health opted to build its own regional office in a site occupied by families whose head or a member of their family has once been lepers.

The social stigma of the once-dreaded disease lingers on. Part of the planning tasks is to look into the manner society treats its handicapped members. It is not just the task of finding land and building the houses; it is more of creating an environment that can provide varying degrees of social and economic integration until such time when the community achieves a critical size for social acceptance.

The site is in sloping terrain within the compound of the Sudlon Agricultural School. Hills in the vicinity impart a sense of isolation without actually separating the community from the school and the adjacent barangays.

Each family is allocated a 100-square meter lot with rights to cultivate farms surrounding the project site. Two and four house groups are arranged in clusters. Common utility cores are provided in each cluster. Three-meter wide footpaths linked the clusters. Except for the central utility core, which is built with concrete hollow block walls, the rest of the house used indigenous building materials. Timber poles prop up the second level sleeping area. The cooking and eating areas are located at ground level with an adjacent banggerahan (dish washing area). Another room for crafts production or for raising livestock complete the ground level covered area.