date-created: '2013-03-01'
date-updated: '2026-09-02'
manifest-author:
    name: Appropedia
    email: admin@appropedia.org
title: 'SECU - Sustainable Emerging City Unit'
description: 'The SECU building is a double-storey experimental prototype to present a provocative and innovative design for housing for emerging settlements, as well as inspiring the construction industry and the government and decision makers at large. The research discusses the potentials of innovative building materials for fast growing housing solutions in Ethiopia. The building was realized in 3 months with experts and students from EiABC together with the chair of building construction. The whole house was structurally built out of compressed straw board panels. The prototype building was constructed by researchers and students at the Ethiopian Institute for Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) in collaboration with Bauhaus Universität Weimar and ETH Zürich.'
keywords: 'Housing, Construction, Alternative building, Sustainable buildings, Strawbale'
project-link: 'https://www.appropedia.org/SECU_-_Sustainable_Emerging_City_Unit'
contact:
    name: E
    social:
        platform: Appropedia
        user-handle: E
version: 36
development-stage: P
made: false
image: 'https://www.appropedia.org/w/images/b/ba/SECU_project_05.jpg'
variant-of:
    title: S
    web: 'https://www.appropedia.org/S'
license:
    documentation: C
licensor:
    name: E
    affliation: B
    contact: 'https://www.appropedia.org/E'
documentation-home: 'https://www.appropedia.org/SECU_-_Sustainable_Emerging_City_Unit'
documentation-language: e