Resilient Housing Team Hosts Successful Exhibition
February 14, 2025
The Affordable and Resilient Housing Team research group hosted an engaging exhibition at Axum Café on 23 January, with more than 35 in attendance.
The exhibition, a product of collaborative efforts through University of St. Martin (USM) and its flagship research programme Island(er)s at the Helm, showcased ideas for future housing on St. Martin and marked the conclusion of a series of workshops and community engagement sessions that brought together architects, builders, contractors, and community members to discuss safe, affordable, and low-cost housing prototypes.
The event was organized by TU Delft University students Kyle Webb, Marle Philips, and Bram Koelman, under the supervision of PhD researcher from the Islander(s) at the Helm research program – Aga Kus. The exhibition featured results of an innovative card game, developed as an interactive tool to explore various building materials and strategies. This tool was based on information gathered over the past three months in collaboration with experts from the built environment on the island.
The card game allowed participants to discover different housing solutions, along with their associated costs, safety features, and comfort levels. It provided a hands-on opportunity for attendees to experiment with different building options and understand the implications these solutions would have on housing safety and comfort. The game was introduced during a workshop at the USM, where university students, building experts, and community members worked together to design their ideal housing prototypes. The goal was to create a vision for university housing, which could eventually be developed as a model for future residential projects on the island.
The workshop led to ten distinct housing designs, reflecting the diverse ideas and concepts of how the people of St. Martin envision future homes. These designs were presented during the exhibition, where the winning teams received awards for scoring the most points in the game. A public award was also given, based on the audience’s vote. The exhibition was well-received, with over 35 attendees actively participating and contributing to discussions on housing solutions for the island. The event concluded with an engaging discussion on the challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions for future housing on St. Martin.
“The community’s strong interest and participation underscore the importance of these conversations as we work together to shape the future of housing on the island,” Kus said. “We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all participants for their engagement.”
The housing designs from the workshop will remain on display at USM. Moving forward, the project aims to engage additional stakeholders, such the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB), to gather further input and collaborate on creating a housing prototype for the university. This prototype will serve as a tangible demonstration of how to build resilient, energy-efficient homes that can withstand extreme weather while lowering energy consumption and utility costs.
For the last 3 years, USM and Axum have collaborated to bring public sessions on science, research, innovation and the arts to downtown Great Bay.
Latest News →
The event was organized by TU Delft University students Kyle Webb, Marle Philips, and Bram Koelman, under the supervision of PhD researcher from the Islander(s) at the Helm research program – Aga Kus. The exhibition featured results of an innovative card game, developed as an interactive tool to explore various building materials and strategies. This tool was based on information gathered over the past three months in collaboration with experts from the built environment on the island.
The card game allowed participants to discover different housing solutions, along with their associated costs, safety features, and comfort levels. It provided a hands-on opportunity for attendees to experiment with different building options and understand the implications these solutions would have on housing safety and comfort. The game was introduced during a workshop at the USM, where university students, building experts, and community members worked together to design their ideal housing prototypes. The goal was to create a vision for university housing, which could eventually be developed as a model for future residential projects on the island.
The workshop led to ten distinct housing designs, reflecting the diverse ideas and concepts of how the people of St. Martin envision future homes. These designs were presented during the exhibition, where the winning teams received awards for scoring the most points in the game. A public award was also given, based on the audience’s vote. The exhibition was well-received, with over 35 attendees actively participating and contributing to discussions on housing solutions for the island. The event concluded with an engaging discussion on the challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions for future housing on St. Martin.
“The community’s strong interest and participation underscore the importance of these conversations as we work together to shape the future of housing on the island,” Kus said. “We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all participants for their engagement.”
The housing designs from the workshop will remain on display at USM. Moving forward, the project aims to engage additional stakeholders, such the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB), to gather further input and collaborate on creating a housing prototype for the university. This prototype will serve as a tangible demonstration of how to build resilient, energy-efficient homes that can withstand extreme weather while lowering energy consumption and utility costs.
For the last 3 years, USM and Axum have collaborated to bring public sessions on science, research, innovation and the arts to downtown Great Bay.
Latest News →
