For centuries, bamboo has been central to life in Nepal, serving as a material for homes, tools and rituals. In the southern Terai plains, it was essential for survival in regions prone to natural disasters. However, traditional bamboo structures were temporary and fragile, requiring constant repair and maintenance, preventing families from investing in other aspects of their lives.

In Peru, a safe home is a distant dream for many families facing the dual threats of environmental risks and a severe lack of skilled labor. An alarming 80% of constructions are informally built, leaving half of them vulnerable to earthquakes. This shocking reality demands urgent action.

After her visits to Peru as part of the Viviendas Progresivas (VIPRO) project, Melinda Sasfi, Project Manager at Hilti Foundation, observed that houses are built haphazardly, and quality is not a focus. As a result, people build without professional supervision and much of what is built is simply poor construction. At the same time, the government has no plan to solve the problem. In addition to the poor quality of construction, there is another challenge: cost.

For over a decade, the Hilti Foundation investigates and promotes innovative bamboo construction technologies for affordable housing in Southeast Asia. Together with the BASE Bahay Foundation, located in Manila, and implementing partners, more than 1,500 houses have been built in the Philippines and Nepal.

Where would you sleep, live, and raise your kids without a safe place to call home? Adequate housing is recognized as a human right. Yet, in Nepal, nearly half of the population lives in substandard housing conditions, hindering their opportunities for social and economic advancement. Like many in her country, 29-year-old Pramila, a devoted mother of two, intimately understands the impact of this challenge.

With its research and testing center, the Bamboo Academy and its own construction projects in the Philippines, Nepal and other Asian countries, the BASE Bahay Foundation, founded by the Hilti Foundation in 2014, aims to make bamboo a standard building material of the future – dedicated to the needs in construction of low-income families.

Our ambition to contribute to a better society is stronger than ever, a dynamic force that continues to gain momentum. The great work of our more than 33,000 Hilti team members and the commitment of our customers and partners enables us to invest in large-scale initiatives globally.

In this episode of In this Case Johann Baar (Hilti Foundation), Scott Merrill (Habitat for Humanity), Corinna Salzer (Hilti Group) and Luis Felipe Lopez (Base Bahay) are talking about the Hilti Foundation’s approach to affordable housing.