Construction For A Cause

Construction in general often gets a bad reputation as the larger companies are sometimes seen as enemies of the natural landscape and seem to have a blatant disregard for anything that stands in the way of their mass expansion plans. However this is not always the case and sometimes the pursuit of profit doesn’t even come into the equation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/infrogmation/3103044927/sizes/n/in/photostream/

Many schemes have been in operation over the years in order to assist in the redevelopment of areas devastated by natural disasters such as that which occurred in New Orleans in 2005.

In fact there are many provisions put in place where companies and individuals come together to provide the construction of homes for people affected by such disasters.

Many of these organisations consist of volunteers who provide their services free of charge such as “Habitat for Humanity International”

Habitat allow the homeowners to get involved in the building process of their own homes and provide all the supervision they need. Habitat is a Christian organisation which is present in over 100 countries around the world.

A look back at the milestones and accomplishments we’ve made this past year. Many, many thanks to all the donors, volunteers, advocates, partners and staff members who made it all possible! To learn more, visit http://habitat.org.

Another organisation which is doing remarkable work is the not for profit “Domes for the World”

They specialise in providing shelter for communities worldwide whose present accommodation is significantly below accepted habitable standards. The provision of eco shells and monolithic domes is the cornerstone of their objectives. The domes are designed so that they are easily constructed thereby helping the needy to help themselves out of their current situations. These facilities have been readily utilised in disaster stricken areas such as Haiti and parts of Asia and Africa.

A film about how one company created a village out of concrete EcoShells – one of the world’s safest structures  http://www.dftw.org/

However construction for a cause trends are not only visible in third world and disaster zones, but they have also been extremely beneficial in developed nations.

In the UK, the house prices have literally spiralled out of control over the last 10 years with first time buyers being frozen out of the market and having to stay at home a lot longer than usually would have been the case. Workers in the city of London cannot afford to live near their places of work and have to commute many miles from their homes. The UK government has supported the notion of affordable housing and there are companies which cater for that very need. One such company is “Higgins Construction”, which has had community build projects at the core of its operations for over 50 years. Generally focused on the south east of England, they provide affordable turnkey buildings for a range of community clients and private individuals alike.

With house prices not showing any real signs of becoming within the reach of most in the foreseeable future, we should expect to see more companies directing their resources towards construction projects with good causes.

Thank you to the Telegraph Construction Jobs team for this article!.