Transitional housing nit to host the refugees in countries facing housing crises.
Project Safe Refuge is a bottom-up international collaboration, aiming to provide sustainable housing solutions during crisis situations, through a multidisciplinary knowledge exchange. Our goal is to create a sustainable, scalable and easy-to-transport housing unit for refugees coming to the cities that are struggling with a housing crisis. In almost a year we orginized several participatory workshops, gathered data from the survey and participated in manufacturer workshop in Netherlands.
Cross-border/international
Poland
Netherlands
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Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Project Safe Refuge Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Olga Last name of representative: Mazurek Age: 29 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Gender: Female Nationality: Poland Function: collaborator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: ul. Okopowa 23/99 Town: Warsaw Postal code: 01-192 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 694 243 140 E-mail:olgahmazurek@gmail.com Website:https://saferefuge.pl/
Project Safe Refuge is a bottom-up international initiative, aimed to provide housing aid during a crisis while establishing multidisciplinary collaborations. We have been established as an informal organisation in the wake of the war in Ukraine, in March of 2022. Since then we have established collaborations with TU Delft, The New Makers (NL) as well as other bottom-up organisations based in Poland. In the first months of our work, we had run surveys and hands-on workshops with the Ukrainian refugees in Poland, mapping their housing needs and preferences. Our current project is a transitional housing unit for Ukrainian refugees looking for a safe shelter in Polish cities struggling with a housing crisis. The results of the participatory workshops have strongly informed the design phase of the unit and helped us to design a sustainable, movable and livable housing unit that adjusts to the specific needs of Ukrainians living abroad.
The design contributes to the discussion about sustainable shelter design that is more durable than temporary emergency shelters, such as tents so popular in humanitarian crises, resilient to the results of climate change, and also uses sustainable materials, reduces material waste and carbon footprint related to the transport of resources.
Housing
Sustainable
Refugee
Participatory
Prefabrication
Transitional housing unit is designed to provide a sustainable solution to the ongoing refugee housing crisis in Europe. It aims to serve people in need now without compromising on the needs of the future generations.
The Transitional housing unit is designed in modules to aid use of CNC and prefabrication technology for manufacturing. The main structural frame is made of OSB panels cut in specific modules which can be interlocked together on site. OSB sheets are made of recycled wood and are considered as a green material. By utilizing this we aim to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible. Prefabrication technology helps in optimizing the use of material and the construction process. Elements prefabricated in a factory will be easy to assemble and disassemble, which reduces time and energy required for construction work. What is more, the construction works can be done with different weather conditions. Modularity of construction allows to make changes and adapt the units to different functions and transitions. Adaptability makes the lifecycle of the unit longer than of a traditional housing.
Ideally, the unit should be self-sufficient with renewable energy sources and green solutions used for installations. However, at this point of the design process this was not discussed in detail. The goal is to create a unit that may form sustainable communities with safe and affordable housing, community spaces and services.
The transitional housing tries to meet high aesthetics and functional standards. It aims to create a sense of belonging in the users who are displaced due to conflict.
The project is optimized when it comes to size, material use, functions. At the same time, it strives to be comfortable to live in and aesthetically pleasant. Which led to creation of a minimalistic design of the form. Wood as the dominant material seems to create a specific microclimate, gives a sense of warmth and allows users to focus on its details. It also highlights connection with nature. The design of the units was developed together with possible future users. This allowed designers to learn about the aesthetic preferences of different groups as well as functional solutions that should be applied.
The form of the unit is as important for the interior, as for the exterior. A group of units shape a public space with different functions, where art and community meetings might happen.
The design of the transitional units enhances the social inclusion of the refugees in the hosting cities by providing an alternative inclusive option for housing in the context of the growing housing shortage. Well-designed units that will be implemented into the local community will allow the inclusion of refugees and reduce the reluctance towards them in some not-so-open communities. It will also create a sense of belonging amongst the users and provide a much-needed comfort during the conflict period. The design layout is easy and simple to change to specific needs and provides inclusive accessibility. The unit is also an alternative in terms of affordable but livable housing options. The prefabricated units are cheaper and faster to build than a traditional brick house. The transitional aspect of the design empowers the users and allows them to move freely if the circumstances change without property loss.
In the first stages of the design process, we put emphasis on ethnographic research. A survey focusing on housing needs and habits was distributed amongst Ukrainian refugees. Parallel to the survey, we ran a series of participatory design workshops for different age groups - young children, teenagers and adults. The workshops discussed the design of a transitional housing unit. Participants, through model making, described their desired spatial arrangements, number of rooms, interior aesthetic, sizes of the spaces and the unit and necessary equipment. Each time, the design session was followed by a discussion about their ideas. During the discussion our team took notes, which were later compiled and analyzed. All of the models were documented, compared and some general themes identified. Our findings from the survey and participatory workshops became the basis for the final design of the transitional housing unit.
When the idea for transitional housing emerged, in March 2022, both the European Union and the Polish national government were adding new emergency shelters for the Ukrainians coming to Poland and other European countries. We put a lot of effort to stay updated with the latest regulations which allowed us to check the feasibility of our project and stay in touch with the current geopolitical situation. Early on we worked with Związek Miast Polskich (Association of Polish Cities) and selected local governments to find out what are the hosting capacities in terms of jobs and activities for refugees. They helped us to search for empty, or temporarily unused, plots for potential implementation locations. One of the most important stakeholders was Centrum Wsparcia Koordynacji (Coordination Support Center, a Ukrainian non-profit organization in Warsaw, Poland), with whom we organized our summer workshops. Thanks to their help and support we were able to map the needs for livable space for Ukrainians staying away from their homes. They also helped us to reach more people with our survey and so as to gather more data. As a group of young designers, reaching out to different stakeholder groups was crucial for developing a design grounded in the real-world context.
Project Safe Refuge is a collaboration of designers, architects and urban planners who work collectively on a daily basis. Because it is an international collaboration, with members living mainly in Poland, Italy, the Netherlands and India, we work remotely using software such as Miro, Slack and drive. During our early research phase, we worked with an external psychologist and an activist working with refugees crossing the Polish border to ensure that our workshop programme and our online survey do not trigger trauma in the participants and do not cause unnecessary emotional discomfort. Apart from our week-to-week work, we collaborated with the Dutch prefab manufacturer, the New Makers. During the knowledge and technology transfer we understood in detail about the process of prefabrication, strengths and limitations of different materials, and structural systems during the early design process. We also had a chance to visit their factory in Rotterdam and observe the production line of their product and storage logistics. We also learnt about limitations due to transport. As we are working towards the production of the prototype we are collaborating with an external structural engineer to calculate the necessary data regarding structural systems and to run stability tests for the unit. To ensure safety and stability of the unit.
Our concept of the transitional housing unit aims to support the rebuilding of the destroyed homes in Ukraine, not act as a permanent replacement. Implemented in Poland, the receiving country, the unit would work as a residential module which could later be easily disassembled and transported to Ukraine. It could continue to fulfill the residential function, while the houses are being rebuilt, and then be turned into a commercial, community or gastronomy module. The layout of the unit allows for a simple and fast change of function. With that, the lifespan of the unit would be much longer than that of a regular shelter. Our transitional housing unit could become a part of the urban fabric of the town or city.
Technical design ensures simple construction, out of prefabricated elements. Construction process would be based on the CNC system, which allows for a mass production - a detail file could be sent to any CNC machine in any city, OSB sheets available everywhere in Europe are used making it easy to manufacture.
Transitional housing unit design was developed to address the housing crisis arised due to the Ukraine war. The design can be utilized for other vulnerable groups of people in similar armed conflict areas. Especially in other European cities that are struggling with overwhelming waves of new refugees.
The design's structure is designed in modules, to be easy to assemble and dismantle making it easy to replicate in large numbers. The main structural frame is made of OSB sheet,which is easily available across europe. It is easy to cut using modern cutting machines and is light enough to transport.
The insulation and cladding materials for the unit can be changed depending on the climate of different regions.
The service modules such as the toilet and the kitchen can be separately connected to the main structure. Make it easy to manufacture and transport. Decentralizing the manufacturing and assembling process of various parts of the unit help in reducing the overall cost and give scope for repair work and modifications as per needs and conditions.
The transitional housing unit is designed to expand. Multiple modules can be added on the longer and shorter facade depending on the number of users or the activity to be carried out.
The structural system helps to create an open layout which then can be played with depending on the user group. We recommend using a participatory design process with the specific vulnerable communities to create designs which are context and user specific.
Project Safe Refuge was created as a result of events from February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. It combines two global challenges that, despite local characteristics and circumstances, occur worldwide.
The first one is the vulnerability of groups fleeing from armed conflict. Many Ukrainians, especially women with children and the elderly, fled from their homes to Polish cities with the hope to find a safe shelter. Waves of people were and still are, coming from the Polish eastern border and they were immediately relocated to cities across entire Poland, and other European countries. Through participatory workshops, conducted in the summer of 2022, we invited Ukrainians living in Warsaw to help us understand what their homes should look like back in Ukraine and what is the core of a Ukrainian home that could be implemented in their house away from home.
The second global challenge is the housing crisis. Many Polish cities struggled with a deficit of affordable and available housing, even before the conflict. The overwhelming waves of people that needed immediate accommodation added extra pressure to the already vulnerable housing system. Unfortunately, in some cases, it resulted in emergency shelters that weren't adapted to comfortable living. They were either big halls, that were lacking privacy, were very noisy or were far away from city centers or any potential workplaces, without access to public transport, increasing the feeling of hopelessness and being stuck. Our Transitional housing Unit is compact enough to utilize different locations within the cities or empty lots, or parking lots. It is also movable therefore the habitants have the flexibility to choose their next life steps. Providing the Transitional housing Unit for refugees, relieves the local housing markets in emergencies.
