Project information: Multipurpose collective shelter - Shelter Type 2 (T2)
Designing realization by: Politecnico di Milano, ABC Departement, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Shelter Research Unit
With the collaboration of: Ferrino Spa
People: Marta Barozzi, Alessandra Zanelli, Salvatore Viscuso, Gianluca Giabardo
The Multipurpose unit is an innovative emergency shelter developed inside the European project FP7 EU Project ‘S(P)EEDKITS- Rapid deployable kits as seeds for self-recovery- and is the result of a successful collaboration between the design research group of Politecnico di Milano, Ferrino specialist team and the Shelter Research Unit (SRU) experts of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The Multipurpose Unit has been conceived for being removed or reused for other purposes several times. It measures 48 m² (6x8 m) and is designed to shelter between 10-12 people. This product can be adapted to different uses: first emergency collective shelter, medical ward, school, offices and so forth. Thanks to the vertical walls it facilitates the connections between units (both on the front and along the sides), allowing the creation of bigger spaces and camp infrastructures.
The structure is fast-erecting and the basic kit package contains all the essential accessories (fabric, groundsheet, shade net, anchoring, instructions manual and a hammer). The elements of the kit are divided in six packaging units weighing no more than 25 kg. They can be carried over the shoulder, by women as well as men, and can be assembled by the families themselves. Big size packages are provided with handles in order to facilitate the transport.
The frame of the structure is composed by aluminium poles connected with steel rabbet joints, which are the same but rotate to facilitate the building procedures. The joints functions also as shade net antennas allowing the elimination of additional framework to support the layer; in this way the shade net can be integrated in the basic kit. Also the poles are all the same except for the hip of the roof, where an extension is provided. The fabric is hung from inside the structure in order to ease the assembling/dismantle operations.
The Multipurpose Unit can be used in all climate types guaranteeing the users comfort in different conditions. The shelter has been tested to withstand snow load up to 30 kg/m2. For the application in hot climate, the attention is pointed on good ventilation and shading system.
Both the shelters (T2 Multipurpose tent and Cocoon) and the packaging have been field-tested, in Burkina Faso and Senegal, with various objectives, which included first and foremost the response of the materials in technological terms (durability in relation to the climate, exposure to weather conditions) and secondly how the materials interacted with their users (NGOs and the local population) in terms of ease of assembly and clarity of the instructions produced by the labelling project.
The collective tent is produced by the leading Italian company in the field of civil protection equipment Ferrino.
More info here