Ukrainian company wins contract to build Estonian-designed family-style small group homes in Ukraine

According to the contract, Alexander & I has 245 days to complete the project in cooperation with KMT Prefab, an Estonian prefab house manufacturer. The work includes three family-style group homes and a bomb shelter. The main contractor is also responsible for communications, landscaping and construction of a children’s play area. The Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) will manage the project, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide funding.

Martin Talts, KMT Prefab board member, said it is important for them to support Ukraine. "The family homes project has a special value in the social sense because it creates modern living conditions for those Ukrainian children who need it the most," said Talts.

ESTDEV, the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Estonian Architects organised a design competition to find a standard blueprint for the homes. The architecture firm DagOpen won the competition. The 212-square-metre house has seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, combining the best of Estonian design, space creation, and construction culture along with foster system best practices.

ESTDEV Executive Director Klen Jäärats said that the small group homes project is another good example of how Estonia and Ukraine's public and private sectors work together in architecture, construction and social affairs. "I hope that with the completion of new family homes in December, we can make our modest contribution to keeping people's hope alive. We also hope to boost European reforms in Ukraine by de-Sovietizing their social system, similar to Estonia," Jäärats said.

Photo: ESTDEV

The construction of these family-style small group homes is the third large-scale Estonian development cooperation project to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. Estonia has also restored the Malyn Bridge and built a kindergarten in Ovruch.

At the project’s opening event, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said we must support Ukraine as much as possible to win the war against Russia. "Estonia has supported and will continue to support Ukraine both militarily and by building up the destruction Russia has caused. We started our projects at the beginning of the war and the family homes project signed today is another example that we are with Ukraine. There is a lot of interest in Estonia's activities at a international level and here we are setting an example."

ESTDEV also offers training for parents and social welfare specialists from the Zhytomyr Region as part of the small group homes project. The Olena Zelenska Foundation has collaborated extensively on the project, advising on properties in the Zhytomyr Region and assisting in selecting families to live in the houses.

There are more than 1,300 group homes in Ukraine housing five to ten orphans each. Because of the war, at least 80 of these homes have been destroyed. Although foster families have moved to safer areas of Ukraine, they are living without permanent residence. According to the Olena Zelenska Foundation, the need for new housing for 40 foster families is particularly critical.