Laurence Wood

Since graduating from Dundee school of architecture in 2005, I have worked in international post-disaster design consultancy for charities and inter-governmental organisations in Mississippi, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines. My experience includes significant ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ training and supervision, construction design and sustainable initiatives for local communities affected by typhoons and hurricanes. As a design and build practitioner in these areas, I have been involved in the collective building of over 800 homes for displaced families.

Rather than commercially focused architecture, I have always been interested in building for vulnerable people in need of shelter. I am passionate about the design and rapid construction of shelter for typhoon and seismic prone areas, with particular consideration in the training and development of affected residents and displaced people. Working in this field, I have been fortunate to have collaborated with extremely talented engineers and inventors who bring new technology to aid programs. Their use of first principle design and implementation is one of the reasons I continue to work on international projects and I hope to bring this simple technological approach to students.