The technique is cheap, fast, ecological and durable, perfect for this context.
Timbrel vaults are one of TreeHugger's favourite building types, because they do so much with so little material. Kris De Decker once wrote about them: "The timbrel vault allowed for structures that today no architect would dare to build without steel reinforcements. The technique was cheap, fast, ecological and durable." They are also known as Catalan vaults, and in the USA as Guastavian vaults, after Rafael Guastavino, who built them in Grand Central Station and the Boston Public Library.
Another master of the timbrel vault is Dr. Michael Ramage, who we first wrote about when he designed a vault for an early Zero Carbon house in the UK. He told the Guardian at the time: "The vaulting gives the house plenty of structural strength but obviates the need for embodied-energy intensive materials such as reinforced concrete." Now Ramage is part of Light Earth Designs, and has built a cricket stadium in Rwanda. All the virtues of timbrel vaults are on display here; it uses local home grown labour, puts a lot of people to work because it is labour intensive, avoids imports, lowers carbon footprint and teaches building skills.
© Light Earth Designs
