“4 in one” Rapid Deployment Emergency Shelters are four highly insulated, lightweight shelter packs capable of storing water and being totally re-useable. They are transported in a purpose-designed ISO shipping container that is also used for providing accommodation.
These rapid deployment emergency shelters have been designed so that when collapsed, four shelters can be transported within a single ISO 20’ x 8’6” dry freight (shipping) container. The transport container in which the shelter packs are deployed has also been designed for use as either stand-alone accommodation or a network hub for the four shelters. Providing the terrain is suitable, it is also envisaged that whole clusters of shelters could be networked together.
Apart from first-on-the-ground emergency accommodation, other foreseen uses are situations where secure and sterile conditions are necessary, such as field hospitals, and for housing essential administration operations provided by humanitarian aid organisations.
Each pre-assembled building package is erected by first removing the pins that secure the base panel, and then turning the panel upside down. This then forms the roof element held in place by the same pins. Prior to fixing the roof panel, both the hinged walls are folded up from the base, and the end window elements are simply inserted. All window elements are stored for protection during transport in recesses in the interior faces of each of the hinged panels, and the double-rebated panel junctions and sealed knuckle hinges make the shelters completely water and dust proof.
The moulded walls are hollow and have been designed to hermetically store water either harvested from the roof or delivered to them. They are capable of holding 2,240 litres when full. The estimated dry weight of a single unit is calculated to be 247 kilograms, which means these shelters can be unpacked, moved, and erected by teams of able bodies without the aid of any mechanical devices or equipment. This is critical when the shelters are deployed in extreme and remote environments.
The materials used will allow the shelters to be cleaned regularly and maintained in a sterile condition so they can be re-used. If they are severely damaged, they can be recycled. The insulating abilities of these shelters are excellent, and they will be capable of being used in a wide range of climates. If they are to be deployed into extreme environments, then there is the further ability to fill the voids in the panels with additive insulating materials.
These units have been designed to be partitioned internally if segregation is required, and further fixtures and fittings have been designed that could be introduced to provide simple elements such tables and bunk beds.
Finally, if identification is critical to the operations where these shelters are being deployed, then super graphic symbols or numbers can be easily produced and changed by inserting removable disks into the dot matrix of circular surface deformations. The latter have been designed to stiffen the exterior surfaces of the wall panels.
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