Transforming the Humble Brick

The “Transforming the Humble Brick” project is an innovative initiative aimed at improving public health through the design of low-cost, heat-resilient, and mosquito-proof building materials. Implemented in Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley, where traditional housing with unfinished structures faces challenges like extreme heat and mosquito-borne disease risk, the project reimagines bricks not just as construction elements, but as tools for environmental control.

Led by the Ifakara Health Institute under the leadership of Principal Investigators Ibrahim Msuya and Yeromin Mlacha, and funded by UKRI, the project aims to develop innovative housing prototypes that uses specially designed bricks—Vortex, Venturi, and Porotherm -  that improve ventilation, reduce indoor heat, and disrupt mosquito entry and flight.  These blocks merge scientific innovation with local building practices, offering a community-driven, sustainable alternative to conventional malaria control tools like insecticide-treated nets and spraying, which face issues of resistance and inconsistent use.

By embedding health and comfort into housing design, the project advocates for grounded, locally informed approaches to global health challenges.