Oranda Jima – After School Clubhouse & Community Centre
Location
Yamada Machi, Iwate prefecture, Japan
Size
196 m2
Developer
Architects
Martin van der Linden
The Oranda Jima House is an afterschool-care facility and community centre in Yamada Machi, Iwate, Japan. It was created as a public facility to serve residents as they recover from the after-effects of the country’s devastating 2011 tsunami.
The third project to be completed under the Canada-Tohoku Reconstruction Project humanitarian relief initiative, the 196m2 centre was a collaboration between the Canadian lumber industry, government partners, and a design team led by Tokyo-based architect Martin van der Linden and his European partners.
In addition to workspace for the staff and a multipurpose room with a kitchen, the building includes playrooms, a soundproof music-practice room that also broadcasts a children’s radio show, an interior courtyard, a quiet tatami space for resting and receiving counselling, and an outdoor playground with a wooden deck. The facility can accommodate 60 local children who participate in the community-led afterschool activities.
To support this project, Canada Wood Group donated all structural lumber, the panel products, and the wood-finishing materials. These materials included Canada Tsuga posts, sill plates and Mabashira studs, Douglas Fir beams, SPF roof rafters, OSB structural panels and Western Red Cedar decking, siding and panel products.
Footnote:
In November 2011 the governments of Canada and of British Columbia – in partnership with Canada’s forestry industry – announced $4.5 million in support of the Canada-Tohoku Reconstruction Project. The project assists construction of community facilities in Japan’s disaster-affected region, using Canadian wood-frame construction techniques and materials.
The Canada-Tohoku Reconstruction Project operates thanks to the invaluable support of stakeholders, partners and contributors: Canada Wood Group, Government of Canada – Natural Resources Canada, Province of British Columbia, Province of Alberta and Canadian forestry companies including: Ainsworth Engineered; Ardew Wood Products Ltd.; AP Group; Canadian Forest Products Ltd.; Hampton Affiliates; International Forest Products Ltd.; Sinclar Group Forest Products Ltd.; Taiga Building Products; Teal Jones Group; TimberWest Forest Corp.; Western Forest Products Inc.; and Interex Forest Products Ltd. representing Carrier Lumber Ltd., Dunkley Lumber Ltd., Millar Western Forest Industries Ltd. and Sundance Forest Industries Ltd.
