Architects: Simple Architecture
Area: 182 m²
Year: 2025
Photographs: Jonathan Wiedemann, Alessandra Esposito
Chief Architect: Jan Glasmeier
Graphics, Drawings: Leonie Beisler
Collaborators: Stiftung Deutscher Architekten, socialarchitecture eV
Client: School Community & Burma Migrant Teacher Association (BMTA)
Location: Tambon Mae Sot
Country: Thailand
Hway Ka Loke school project, designed by Stiftung Deutscher Architekten and socialarchitecture e.V. in Mae Sot, Thailand, delivered four adobe classrooms for Burmese migrant and refugee students through a cooperative process involving architects, students, and the local community. Constructed with local soil, rice husk, and reused timber, the project provides sustainable and replicable infrastructure for schools that receive no public funding. Annual workshops support educational outreach and skill-building, linking construction practice with political awareness. The project took place in early 2025, addressing urgent spatial and social needs in a context of forced displacement.
Hway Ka Loke is a school built for Burmese migrants and refugees near the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Following the military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, the number of people crossing into Thailand has sharply increased. While three local community-based organizations provide financial support for essentials like teacher salaries, student lunches, and school uniforms, most schools lack sufficient infrastructure, including classrooms and sanitation facilities.
Existing educational structures are frequently unable to accommodate all students. In response, provisional shelters have been built, typically using makeshift materials. Although many of these schools are officially registered under the Thai Ministry of Education, they receive no public funding. As a result, the new structures tend to be fragile, unsustainable, and temporary.
Within a period of six weeks, four new classrooms were constructed in collaboration with the school community. The project was supported by the Stiftung Deutscher Architekten, which offered a travel scholarship to young architects and students, inviting them to take part in the building process. All decisions on-site were made together with the school director, parent board, and local residents.
Material selection was based on environmental performance, local availability, and social criteria. The primary materials – adobe bricks and reclaimed timber – were sourced locally. The site’s clay-rich soil, mixed with rice husk, was used to produce approximately 4,500 adobe bricks over four weeks. A water-resistant coating for the exterior walls was created by boiling tapioca starch and blending it with sand and local soil to form a durable finish.
The construction aimed to collaborate directly with displaced and rural communities from Myanmar. The adobe brick method is easily replicable, making it accessible for other community-led initiatives. The process itself is designed to be simple enough to involve residents without technical training.
Each year, architecture students and local high school students are invited to participate in brick-making and earthen wall construction workshops. These sessions serve as both hands-on training in natural building techniques and a platform to raise awareness about the political realities faced by Burmese migrants and refugees crossing into Thailand.
The project was carried out in Mae Sot, Thailand, in collaboration with the Burma Migrant Teacher Association (BMTA), Stiftung Deutscher Architekten, and socialarchitecture e.V., from January 14 to February 21, 2025.
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Project Location
Address: Tambon Mae Sot, Thailand
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
