Architect Frank Flury selected a group of 15 students to design,

fundraise and build a health clinic in a rural town on the Java

Island of Indonesia. The budget was set to $15,000. We hosted

events, sold food three times a week on campus, and got in

touch with the Indonesian community in Chicago which was very

helpful. We built a full-size mock-up of the building on campus.

The clinic was to be built over the summer in Jabung. The immediate

client was an elementary school, which owned the proposed

site. The site was narrow but long and had a steep slope.

The entire community would benefit by the clinic since there

are no local health installations. A sick person would previously

have to travel one hour to get to the closest town, Magetan, to

see a physician.

The design we built was the result of countless iterations. Before we left for

Indonesia, we sent the construction documents needed for the construction permit.

We changed drawing details won location to accommodate the different

materials and supplies available locally.

The clinic measures 12 meters long by 4 meters wide and is 3.8 meters tall. It

encloses space for two twin beds, a nurse/doctor’s desk, a stone sink, and an

enclosed toilet. It is built using a concrete frame structure and brick-infill walls.

There are two entrances, and six large awning windows, providing the interior

with sufficient daylight.
 

Construction started in June with the digging of trenches for the foundation.

With the help of three local masons, we raised the walls, poured the floor

slab and columns, plastered the walls, installed the roof, windows, doors and

plumbing fixtures. Construction took a total of thirteen (13) weeks.