Healthy Housing for the Displaced

One of the most distinctive projects that Wintech are proud to have been appointed on this year as partners is the Healthy Housing for the Displaced project, developed by a dedicated research team at the University of Bath. Funded by the EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Science Research Council), the international scheme aims to aid people who dwell in refugee camps. Wintech have offered voluntary services on this biggest ever international study into housing standards in refugee camps.

Researchers at the university are looking into improving the design of existing refugee shelters so that they are able to withstand extreme temperatures and provide better comfort and dignity for refugees. The scheme involves not only low-cost, easy-to-construct shelter design, but a systematic process developed to be mindful of climate, landscape and portability as well as engineering and cultural and social issues such as family and gender relations to name a few. There will be no single shelter solution due to the diversity of climates and cultures in the various fieldwork locations which include Jordan, Ethiopia, Thailand or Nepal and other locations still to be confirmed. Refugees will be interviewed to gage a detailed understanding of the requirements needed to be met from their perspective.

Over the three-year scheme period, Wintech will play a collaborative role in the work packages identifying problems following data collection and simulation, offering solutions to buildability and cost effectiveness.

A number of the Wintech team have taken Façade Engineering courses with many holding an MSc in Façade Engineering from the University of Bath.

Photographs courtesy of University of Bath

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