According to United Nations there were more than 14 million refugees in 2014. Provision of shelter is one of the main concerns of humanitarian agencies but current solutions (tents) do not meet the basic people´s needs that rise after a natural disaster, a war conflict or a situation of crisis or poverty. In addition, most refugee camps that are planned to be temporary become long term camps. Existing solution for these camps is the substitution of tents by adapted containers which are expensive, difficult to transport and install and require extra equipment to reach minimum quality of life conditions.
As a result of this, humanitarian agencies are looking for innovative and affordable designs to meet these needs.
SURI is a novel concept of modular shelter. It is low cost, foldable and easy to transport, quick and easy to install, flexible, and provides maximum comfort from the first moment. The main innovations of the product lie in design, materials and manufacturing processes. See Image 1.
The objective of the feasibility study was to determine the viability of the project from an economic, legal and technical point of view. In particular, to identify new potential applications and markets such as housing, sanitary, military, educational or leisure. According to these potential new sectors, a description of the legal requirements, resources, development needs and technical specifications have been done. The new developments will focus on the improvement of the materials and design used in SURI units in order to reinforce frames, lighten the structure and enhance its transportation to increase the competitiveness by improving its features.
The ambition of Urbana is that SURI becomes the best alternative to actual shelter units used by humanitarian organizations and to broaden the applications in different markets.
