Article source: TYIN tegnestue Architects

Project Description

The work on Cassia Coop Training Centre started during the autumn of 2010. It all began with a visit from a French businessman, Patrick Barthelemy. He had come all the way from Sumatra to our office in Trondheim, and sat before us with a fascinating story and a briefcase full of cinnamon. Part of the story told of how an area of Sumatra supplies 85 % of the cinnamon consumed worldwide. Yet another and more sinister part of the story concerned workers without rights, underpaid and working long days in unsafe and unsanitary factories. The story made an impression on us. After a year of planning we found ourselves deep within the cinnamon forests of Sumatra, ready to design and build a sustainable cinnamon school for local farmers and workers.

Entrance area with Kerinci Lake in front.

• Architects: TYIN tegnestue Architects
• Project: Cassia Coop Training Centre
• Location: Sungai Penuh, Kerinchi, Sumatra, Indonesia
• Client: Cassia Co-op
• Project: Training facility for cinnamon production
• Cost: 30 000 Euro
• Time: August – October 2011
• Built by: TYIN tegnestue with local workers
• Sponsored by: LINK Arkitektur
• Architects: Gjermund Wibe, Morten Staubo, Therese Jonassen, Kasama Yamtree, Andreas Gjertsen, Yashar Hanstad,
• Students: Rozita Rahman, Bronwyn Long, Sarah Louati, Zofia Pietrowska, Zifeng Wei
• Photographer: Pasi Aalto
• Software used: Whiteboards, pencil and paper, simple cardboard models, and google sketchup

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