Project Pitch: Easy/Rapid Shelter

Various activist organizations have taken to constructing shelters for unhoused people — both in the Bay Area, and elsewhere in the United States and the world at large. While many of these organizations build structures off of set plans, this tool aims to provide greater adaptability for those plans in order to erect larger or more complex structures with confidence, and to dynamically estimate material cost.

Intended users

The intended users of this tool are organizations that aim to construct cheap, structural, and easy-to-build shelters on a small-to-medium scale. This could include activist organizations, but may also be helpful for humanitarian or government organizations in developing countries.

Need you’re trying to provide a solution or support for

Cheap and easy-to-build shelter, especially for people who don’t have access to existing infrastructure. The purpose of this tool is to take shelter deployment a step beyond tents and other forms of temporary shelter, to create structures of relative permanence and resilience.

Inputs

• Desired factor of safety
• Cost limit
• External dimensions (height, length, width)
• Internal minimum height
• Available materials (pre-set list)
• Environmental conditions that could affect loads (high winds, frequent rain, etc.)

Underlying logic of the model you’ll implement

• The set list of environmental conditions will be processed to suggest a roof shape (e.g., a gable truss would be suggested over a flat truss if frequent rain is a concern).
• The tool will calculate the rake length of the truss using the external dimensions and internal minimum height.
• Based on the environmental condition list, the tool will select the appropriate formula to determine maximum expected load.
• From the maximum expected load and material list, the tool will produce truss roof and wall configurations that meet that load with the desired factor of safety.
• From the available material list, the tool will then suggest the configuration-material combination that best meets the cost limit.

Outputs

• A Dynamo/Revit geometry model of the suggested building configuration
• A list of materials necessary and associated cost
• Possibly suggested fastener types, based on location and availability