Design
a versatile shelterthat will accommodate the homeless in developing countries as well
as provide relief for desperate refugees in disaster ravaged areas.
Design
Parameters:
Task:
1.
Portable
2.
Durable
4.
Easily erected
3.
Inexpensive
Solution:
The
EZup Hut
What's
so exciting about the Ezup Hut?
SIMPLICITY
The
EZup Hut has only 2 simple basic building blocks:
WALL
panels
ROOF panels
(There
are no other structural supports)
The
wall and roof panels are made from 1/8 inch thick aluminum composite sheet
material - thus light weight (portable), and
rust proof (durable). These panels have been
designed to be easily mass produced (inexpensive).
The sheet aluminum is laser cut with bolt holes predrilled and side flanges
bent. No costly time consuming welding is required. These panels have been
designed to 'nest' conveniently to facilitate packaging, handling and shipping.
The side flanges on both wall and roof panels are simply bolted one to another
(easily erected).
Wall
panels are 8 ft. high and 3 ft. wide with 1.5 inch flanges bent outwards at
101 degrees so that when two wall panels are bolted together they look like
this:
16
wall panels bolted together form a 16 ft. diameter enclosure (area = 200 sq.
ft. )
Each
EZup Hut has 14 circular windows, and 2 doors that can be moved simply by
unbolting the door panel, respositioning, then rebolting.
Roof
panel flanges bolt together and to the tops of the wall panels providing a
6 inch drip-lip overhang. The roof pitch is 4/12 - making the roof peak 10
ft. high.
2
roof panels >>>>
16
roof panels >>>>
Note:
Bolted roof flanges rest directly on top of the bolted wall flanges.
(No
other structural supports are necessary)
Detail:
Wall and roof flanges have an aluminum waterproofing 'U' cap covering them
before bolting.
The
'U' caps more than double the strength of the bolted flange structural supports.
For extreme snow loading the flanges and caps can be enlarged from 1.5 inches
to 3 inches.
The
above gives a brief undetailed description of the EZup HUt concept. So what's
the big deal?
TWO UNSKILLED (WEAK) PEOPLE CAN ERECT AN EZUP HUT IN A DAY!
Why
is this important?
Despite
their good intentions the housing authorities in developing countries can
build only a restricted number of permanent shelters for the homeless depending
largely on the cost and availability of construction crews. But if the homeless
are given or can buy their own EZup Hut Kits
they can erect them on level ground and be sheltered within a day. If governmental
housing departments set their construction crews to erect Ezup Hut Villages
they could assemble 50 EZup Huts in the time usually taken to build one permanent
house. Such projects could seriously reduce the number of homeless around
the world.
Because
the EZup Huts can be assembled, disassembled and then reassembled at a different
location, and because they won't corrode or deteriorate, their durable life
span can equal that of more permanent structures. In additon, EZup Huts can
be joined together by bolting 3 ft. passage kits
between them. Multiple configurations (circles, squares) of joined Ezup Huts
can provide family compounds and enclosed courtyards.
An
ALUMINUM hut? It might be portable, durable and
waterproof, but occupants might either bake or freeze depending on the local
climate and season. How can the EZup Hut be insulated?
Simply by attaching thatch (straw/grass/leaf) bundles to the exterior - tied
to all those exterior bolts and nuts - or by packing a mud/clay/straw mixture
up the outside walls and on the roof. The aluminum won't corrode and the insulating
materials can be easily removed, the hut disassembled and relocated, and insulating
materials reapplied.
Plum
Design will happily assist ANYONE who wishes
to pursue this shelter concept through to mass production. We are prepared
to handle the manufacture of a prototype, tweak the design as necessary, monitor
the prototype through wind and snow load testing, provide 'pict-o-gram' assembly
drawings - in fact, we'll help in any way to ensure that EZup Huts (or something
similar) are manufactured and distributed (hopefully worldwide) to provide
shelter for the homeless.
If
you're interested, email Plum Design - let's communicate!
