11.4.7 Does your university as a body work with local authorities to address planning issues/development, including ensuring that local residents are able to access affordable housing?

Beirut Arab University Offers Two Temporary Housing Units of UN Standards for Refugees and the Displaced[1]

https://www.bau.edu.lb/Public-Relations/Event/Beirut-Arab-University-Offers-Two-Temporary-Housing-Units-of-UN-Standards-for-Refugees-and-the-Displaced

The Faculty of Architectural Engineering at Beirut Arab University - Tripoli Branch offered two temporary housing units for refugees and the displaced.

The two units are of low cost and their ability to protect the inhabitants from different environmental conditions for long periods of time. These units use materials available locally that are also recyclable and can be reused.

The Minister of Social Affairs Mr. Rachid Derbas visited the Campus whereby he reviewed the project and held a business meeting with BAU Vice-President for Tripoli Branch Affairs, Prof. Khaled Baghdadi, Mr. Ahmad Sankari, the Branch Coordinator, Dr. Nabil Mohareb, Director of the Faculty of Architectural Engineering, and Dr. Ahmed Lakani, Director of the Faculty of Engineering.

BAU students had prepared six designs of temporary housing units throughout the year, two of which were chosen to be executed on campus. The first concept was executed by Engineers Fatima Khaled, Sima Sheikh and Nadine Hayek. It is a design that focuses on flexibility, mobility, lightness and ease of assembly, requiring no experts.

The unit is square shaped of area 17.5 m2, designed to house five persons in accordance with the specifications of the High Commission of Refugees. The main structure is made of steel, while the fabric is made of water- and heat-proof material. The floors are made of light wood. The construction period/unit is 8 hours, while opening or closing the unit needs about half an hour. The total cost of the project was $2340.-.

The second idea was designed by Engineers Saleh El Zannar, Sarah Masarani, and Fatima Blouck, and uses recyclable materials available on the Lebanese market. These materials do not need to be imported or to be manufactured especially for the housing units. The assembly of the unit does not require any experts of 18.5 m2.

The construction depends on using sand for the isolation of walls, using two layers of water-proof fabric, in addition to PVC pipes to support the walls. The basic structure uses Galvanized Steel Pipes to hold the roofs which consist of two layers of corrugated iron sheets with isolation between them, with wooden floors. The assembly of a unit requires 5 days and 3 persons, while the cost of the unit is $2300.-. In case of mass production, the cost is reduced by 20%.
After the presentation of the project, the event closed with a tour of the housing units executed by the students. The Minister expressed his admiration of the students’ projects stressing their importance both locally and regionally. The Minister further promised to cooperate with relevant regional bodies, hoping that there will be further cooperation with the University.
This Visit by the Minister of Social Affairs was followed by a visit from a delegation representing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Shelter Office (Beirut and Tripoli) for the Faculty of Architectural Engineering at the Campus and had a complete review of this project whereby they promised to activate a cooperation between the UNHCR and Beirut Arab University.

Student On-campus Accommodation Grant[2]

https://www.bau.edu.lb/Undergraduate/Accommodation-scholarships-in-Debbieh-Campus

ACCOMODATION

Starting Fall 2020-2021, students willing to stay in the dorms of the Debbieh campus can apply to the annual Student On-campus Accommodation grant which covers part of the BAU dorm fees.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• All students are eligible to annually apply for the grant as long as they are willing to stay at the BAU dorms in Debbieh.
• Students willing to move and live at the BAU dorms in Debbieh away from their families are eligible for the grant.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• Students must fill in the application every academic year and submit it along with the required documents within the set deadline.
• The deadline for the submission of the application for the academic year 2020/2021 shall be announced in due time.
• The student is responsible for keeping a copy of the application and the required documents for future reference.
• Only complete applications, with the required documents, will be considered.
• Required documents: A photocopy of any rental contract(s) and/or ownership of real estate (issued within 1 month).
• Applications should be filled in on iConnect and sent to housing@bau.edu.lb.

BAU Came among the Top Five in the MITEF Arab Start Up Competition to Serve the Refugees[3]

https://www.bau.edu.lb/Tripoli-Campus/News/BAU-Came-among-the-Top-Five-in-the-MITEF-Arab-StartUp-Competition-to-Serve-the-Refugees

The graduates of the Faculty of Architecture-Design and Built Environment at Beirut Arab University in Tripoli came among the top five in the "Innovate for Refugees" competition-second edition organized by the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan-Arab Region, one of another 28 MIT global branches. The competition provides an opportunity to support emerging companies that provide technology-based services for the refugees. BAU’s "Hope in Sand and Pipes" team, composed of students Sarah Maasrani, Fatima Block, Saleh Al-Zanar, Hilal Moussa, Ghina Yamak and Abdulrahman Ghamrawi, presented a Master's Project in the form of a refugee housing unit for temporary residence. The design was examined and developed under the supervision and assistance of the professors at the Faculty of Architecture-Design and Built Environment. The design of the unit focused on the use of recyclable and reusable materials available in the local market without the need to import or manufacture them specifically for the residential unit. The unit installation does not require specialized laborer’s, which allows the refugees to create their own, in addition to their ability to choose internal furniture to make the most of the space available. Among 2,000 participants from around the world, only 20 projects including BAU’s were qualified for the next level. Over three days, entrepreneurs met in Jordan and took advantage of the MIT workshop to develop the final presentation of the project. The initiatives were presented in two stages to two juries specialized in entrepreneurship and refugees’ affairs. Together with 10 other initiatives, BAU’s project was qualified for the finals to be later selected among the top five in the world to obtain the support of the organizers of the competition.

Beirut Arab University Harvests the First Place at the 3D Printer Project[4]

https://www.bau.edu.lb/Public-Relations/Event/Beirut-Arab-University-Harvests-the-First-Place-at-the-3D-Printer-Project

The Faculty of Engineering- Civil Engineering Department- at Beirut Arab University won the First Place Prize in the Competition held in parallel with the “13th Technology and Industrial Innovation Forum” organized by the “Lebanese Industrial Research Achievements Program” in cooperation with the “Association of Industrialists in Lebanon” and the “National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS)”. The winning students were: Adel Shahrour, Bayan Katello, Marwa Shbaro, Hasan Shakhashiro, Mahmoud Itani and Wassim Manasfi won the First Prize in addition to receiving the Best Supervisor Award. The project is a three-dimensional printer that can print any conceivable geometric shape (90-90-90 cm) drawn on a computer to become horizontal slides that are printed continuously and quickly to become an architectural model. The project took a long time and underwent a number of experiments and modifications. This project paves the way for the possibility of manufacturing a printer with large dimensions so that a complex of prefabricated houses can be constructed to provide housing in the event of disasters or wars in record time without the need for a large number of workers and equipment in the construction of storeys.

Nanoarchitecture Future Housing[5]

https://www.bau.edu.lb/Architecture-Design-and-Built-Environment/Event/Public-Lecture-By-Dr-Osama-Omar

The Faculty of Architectural Engineering, Beirut Arab University, is taking steps towards internationality. After obtaining RIBA I accreditation and sending its staff to participate in international conferences and public lectures. Dr. Osama Omar had been invited to give a public lecture under title ‘Nanoarchitecture Future Housing’ in Jordan Housing Developers Association, Amman, Jordan which. The lecture focus on the role of Nanotechnology in Architecture to reach Future Housing by produce new materials that have new properties, which help to protect indoor spaces and built new trends of architecture called Nanoarchitecture which friendly for environment [5].

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