Two young architectural engineers have designed a structure which will greatly assist the work of
organizations working with refugees in emergency situations.
The structure is an inflatable shelter made out of concrete, which can be erected quickly.It is nicknamed
‘building in a bag’, because it is delivered in the form of a sealed plastic sack.
The sack consists of two parts: fabric which has been coated with cement and a plastic skin. Once the
sack is in place, all that is necessary to erect the structure is in the addition of water. The fabric absorbs
the water and because the volume of the sack itself controls the amount of water, there is no need for
measurement. A chemical pack is then attached to a nozzle in the plastic skin. This releases a controlled
volume of gas and inflates the structure. The shelter is left to dry out and twelve hours later it is ready
for use. Doors and windows are left without concrete cloth, so they can be cut out of the plastic inner
once the cement has dried.
The shelter has been designed for ease of use. The dry weight of the sack is only 230 kilograms and it
can be lifted by eight men. It is light enough to be transported by a truck or light aircraft and it can be
lifted by eight men. It is light enough to be transported by a truck or light aircraft and it can be set up by
a person without any training in under 40 minutes. The finished structure has curved outer surface,
which gives it strength, and 16 square meters of floor space.
The ‘building in a bag’ has several advantages over two current methods of providing emergency
shelter: tents and building kits. The cost of a concrete shelter is estimated at $2,100, while the
equivalent-sized building kit widely used in U.K. costs about $ 7,700. The same-sized tent costs about
$1,150, but soft-skinned tents provide only poor protection and last approximately two years. Buildings
kits are expensive and difficult to transport. The new concrete shelter incorporates the best aspects of
both and in the medium- to long-term saves both effort and costs. The shelter has a design life of over
ten years. It is almost as easy to transport and erect as a tent, but is as long-lasting and secure as a
portable building .It will provide quick accommodation, field offices and medical clinics that give much
better protection in extreme climatic conditions. And as the shelter can be delivered sterile, surgical
procedures can be carried out inside the shelters from day one of crisis.
Once the building has fulfilled its primary function as an emergency shelter, another use for it can
probably be found. However, it can be demolished easily, using basic tools, and the thin-walled
structure has a very low mass, so leaves little material for disposal.
The engineers who designed the ‘building in a bag’ arrived at the idea in an usual way. Normally
designers identify a need and then set to work to create solutions. However, in this case the two
engineers worked the other way round. They had entered a competition to find new uses for cement
and they approached the task by thinking only in terms of the engineering properties of cement, and
how to make best use of them. They were interested in egg shells, which are very thin but very strong,
and they started by experimenting with plaster, a material with similar properties to cement. By inflating
plaster in a balloon they created a structure like a giant egg shell. They then moved on to using cloth
coated with cement, which they inflated too produce a curved surface. Finally, they arrived at a use for
the process they had designed: inflatable emergency shelters.
After winning second prize in the cement competition, the two engineers obtained legal protection for
their concept. They then went on to win several awards and the prize money enabled them to travel to
Uganda to do some field research. There they met representatives of various aid agencies , visited
refugee camps and demonstrated the shelter. They were also able to see for themselves how such
camps operate. This opportunity was vital, because they were designing a product for use in settings
previously outside their own experience.
The response to the ‘building in a bag’ amongst aid organizations in Uganda was very positive. For
example, the programme head for Medicines Sans Frontieres said that her organization would have
bought ten of the kits if they had been immediately available. The organizations were impressed by the
simplicity and economy of the idea. Fellow engineers also praised the design. According to one, the
imaginative process by which the shelters are made ‘deals with the key issues of portability’ ease of
assembly, durability and cost. The applications of the shelter in the humanitarian field are immediate
and obvious, but there are many other fields where this technology could be successfully employed’.
Read the text and answer the following questions:
1) According to the writer, why is the ‘building in a bag’ more convenient than a conventional tent?
A- It’s easier to carry .
C- It lasts longer.
B- It’s easier to put up.
D- It costs less to produce.
2) What first led the two engineers to design their building kit?
A) They noticed that there was a need for better shelters.
B) They were looking for new uses for cement.
C) They were asked by aid agencies to supply a design.
D) They discovered a new construction process by accident.
3) A trip to Uganda enabled the engineers to
A) attract further investment.
B) see their shelters in use.
C) get information for their product design.
D) obtain orders for their shelters.
4) How did another engineer evaluate the building in a bag?
A) He thought the design met all the important criteria.
B) He felt the idea was not a particularly new one.
C) He claimed that some problems remained to be solved.
D) He suggested that there were better uses for it than shelters.
5) Which two of the following of the following advantages of the building in a bag are mentioned?
A) It can be erected in bad weather.
B) It doesn’t need cleaning before use as a hospital.
C) It is more permanent than other portable structures.
D) It has very thick walls.
E) It is easy to dispose of after use.
Complete the text below by filling in the spaces. Use the passive form of verbs in the box.
An example has been done for you.
Place
dig
hold
lay
install
fill
erect build
finish
Construction of a Brick House
The foundations of the house ……are laid……. Using the architect’s plans. Firstly, a narrow trench
1……………………. , and then 2………………………….. with cement. The walls 3……………………… on this firm
base. When they reach shoulder height, a scaffolding 4………………………….. Openings for doors and
windows 5…………………………….. in place by wooden frames. When the walls 6………………………. , the
framework for the roof 7………………………… on top. Finally, interior fittings such as pipes and writing
8…………………………