Three years after the Indonesian island of Lombok was devastated by earthquakes, a team of Australian and Indonesian charity organisations have set up Asia’s first sustainable and earthquake-resistant school on the island.

Entire villages were destroyed, more than 550 people were killed and 417,000 displaced when two earthquakes hit the island on August 5 and 19, 2018.

Infrastructure like businesses, homes and schools were wiped out, and as part of the rebuilding process, a new eco-friendly and earthquake-resistant school, SDN 4 Taman Sari, was constructed in June.

It’s located in Taman Sari village, 10 kilometres north of the provincial capital Mataram.

The key to the school’s sustainability and resilience to earthquakes is the use of ‘eco-blocks’, which are made from recycled plastic mixed with wood.

They’re lightweight, sturdy and easy to assemble — it only took six days to build the SDN 4 Taman Sari school.

After laying the foundations, the blocks can be formed into walls by stacking them by hand. Then the roof and windows are added.

The blocks are designed to avoid causing fatal injuries in an earthquake.

Due to their elasticity, they are less likely to crumble or cave in.

Seismic resistance, or the ability to withstand an earthquake, is increased because walls made of eco-blocks flex rather than snap.

Their light weight, and the way the blocks fit together, also means they can tolerate much more movement than conventional bricks and mortar.

Duncan Ward is the founder and CEO of Classroom of Hope, the Australian charity organisation that led the eco-block school project in Lombok.

He started Classroom of Hope in 2012 with the mission of helping children living in poverty gain access to education. So far, the organisation has built more than 75 schools throughout Asia and Africa.

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