Holcim and the Norman Foster Foundation have struck a partnership to rethink emergency shelters to turn them into sustainable and resilient homes.
Holcim will use its expertise in low-carbon innovative concrete-based solutions and affordable housing to design a concept for building 1,000 shelters and a medical facility in one day, according to a news release. The goal is to offer dignified and resilient accommodation to the world’s growing number of displaced people.
The collaboration will begin with a one-week workshop in June in Madrid, Spain. The aim is to create affordable shelters capable of disassembly, reuse, and recycling. Holcim will use its experience in building affordable housing and on innovations such as low-carbon concrete, lightweight prefabricated support structures, and green cements for soil stabilization. Holcim built Africa’s largest 3D-printed affordable housing project in Kenya, developed by its joint venture 14Trees in partnership with CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution.
“Currently we have over 80 million people who have been forced to flee their homes around the world,” said Jan Jenisch, CEO, Holcim. “Emergency shelters can be more than just a roof over their head—they should offer people the dignity and safety of a home. We are excited to collaborate with the Norman Foster Foundation to put our solutions as well as our expertise in affordable housing to work to achieve this goal.”
Related Stories
Architects | Mar 28, 2017
A restroom for everyone
Restroom access affects everyone: people with medical needs or disabilities, caretakers, transgender people, parents with children of the opposite gender, and really anyone with issues or needs around privacy.
Building Team | Mar 6, 2017
AEC firms: Your website is one of the most important things you'll build
Don’t believe it? You’d better take a look at the research.
Building Team | Mar 1, 2017
Intuitive wayfinding: An alternate approach to signage
Intuitive wayfinding is much like navigating via waypoints—moving from point to point to point.
Building Team | Feb 21, 2017
Artifacts down the street: Exploring urban archaeology
Archaeologists continually unearth artifacts in our cities. It's time to showcase them.
Building Team | Feb 2, 2017
HOK joins Well Living Lab Alliance sponsored by Delos and Mayo Clinic
The Well Living Lab studies the connection between health and the indoor environment to transform human health and well-being in places where we live, work, learn, and play.
Architects | Jan 24, 2017
Politicians use architectural renderings in bid to sell Chicago’s Thompson Center
The renderings are meant to show the potential of the site located in the heart of the Chicago Loop.
Designers | Jan 13, 2017
The mind’s eye: Five thoughts on cognitive neuroscience and designing spaces
Measuring how the human mind responds to buildings could improve design.
Building Team | Jan 11, 2017
Can design help close the nation's political divide?
Practically every building typology is evolving to meet the needs of the innovation economy. Why not legislative spaces?
Building Team | Jan 10, 2017
Fiber canopies proposed to turn Phoenix streets into comfortable public space
The proposal was the winning entry in a design competition asking for ways to strengthen the identity of the Arizona city.
Building Team | Jan 6, 2017
CannonDesign launches REALIZE Life Safety Solutions
“The Final Rule presents a considerable update to the life safety directives most healthcare systems have become accustomed to,” says Joe Cassata, principal at CannonDesign.