There is always need for disaster relief housing, and the recently introduced Hex House is certainly one of the more dignified ones. It was created by a non-profit design practice Architects For Society, which is a joint effort of professionals from the US, Europe and the Middle East. Their aim is provide easy to deploy housing, which is both affordable and provides a dignified way to live to refugees, and those displaced by natural disasters.
Hex House is hexagonal in shape and features a number of amenities more typical for a home than a temporary shelter. These include electricity and manually-pumped running water. The electricity is provided by rooftop-mounted solar panels. These can be placed at three different angles onto the roof, due to the hexagonal shape of the home, which means more solar power can be harvested.
The home also features a rainwater collection system, which consists of an integrated gutter, a downpipe, and a storage tank from which rainwater can be manually pumped into the shelter, providing the residents with running water. There is another tank that contains potable water, which can also be pumped into the house.
The shelter is designed to be used for 15-20 years. It is easy to transport, and three disassembled shelters fit onto a truck trailer. They can be erected by a single person using only simple tools and minimal training. The shelter features a galvanized tube steel for the base, while the walls, floor and roof are made of structural insulated panels (SIPs). The supports are height-adjustable and have to be anchored to concrete pier foundations, while the walls are supported by a steel frame.
The panels which make up the exterior wall all measure 9.8 x 13.1-ft (3 x 4-m), while they lock together easily via in-built grooves. The wall and roof panels lock together in the same way. The roof and floor panels are also of a standard size, which makes for efficient production, packing, transportation and construction.
The designers opted for a hexagonal shape due to its inherent structural stability. The latter is further bolstered by the rigid, self-supporting shell, which is created when the wall and roof panels are locked together. One Hex House creates a small two-bedroom home for small families, and more of them can be joined together to house larger families, or to create other types of facilities.
Architects for Society are currently trying to raise money to building a prototype of the Hex House via a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign.
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