Modular building system can respond to immediate needs

Currently, there are numerous areas around the world affected by crisis events, whether they involve armed conflicts, natural disasters, or long-term humanitarian crises. It is clear that even in these areas, there is a need to provide accommodation, schools, hygiene stations, hospitals, etc. Therefore, the company KOMA has focused on developing crisis projects that can respond quickly and effectively to current and often existential needs.

For this purpose, KOMA has developed a uniquely designed system called SmartSpacePack, which allows humanitarian organizations to utilize highly efficient and practical construction methods. The SmartSpacePack system is based on the construction of foldable modules that are packed in a "pack," which is unfolded on-site and can be assembled very quickly according to the attached instructions. This represents a fast and lightweight method of construction akin to Ikea, which can be carried out by untrained workers. In practice, this means that KOMA has various models of modular buildings and modular units available for implementation, ensuring logistics to the nearest port of the designated location. There, a fully equipped hospital, school, or administrative building arrives in a folded state in shipping containers, containing everything necessary for construction, from folded modules to tools and instructions for assembly.

The SmartSpacePack system also enables construction in hard-to-reach areas using lightweight foldable modules, from which modular residential units can be built without the use of heavy machinery. These lightweight modules are an ideal solution in places where temporary accommodation needs to be created while maintaining a high level of comfort in the context of a crisis situation. Lightweight modular accommodation can thus compete with the widely used tents found in refugee camps, where a very short stay is anticipated, but the reality is often quite different. Refugee camps generally remain in place for many months or years, offering their residents a basic but, in the long term, very problematic form of accommodation. Lightweight modules could provide an ideal solution; the refugees could manage the construction themselves, ultimately living in dignified conditions temporarily.

One interesting example of crisis projects offered by KOMA is a camp designed for temporary housing. This camp is built using the SmartSpacePack system, with houses constructed from lightweight modules. Each group of residential units is then supplied with a hygiene station that combines a water source, toilets, and washing facilities. In the center, there may be either an administrative building, a hospital, a school, etc.

Thus, we should view modular construction through the lens of immediate human needs that it can quickly meet. After all, prefabricated construction was invented for this very purpose. With modular construction, we can create temporary urban units that can be implemented in a very short time and then either relocated or disassembled and possibly rebuilt in other locations in the future. It is clear that the construction method using the SmartSpacePack system can assist in problematic slums, refugee camps, and areas affected by earthquakes or floods.

You can learn more about the possibilities of modular construction in crisis situations and under challenging conditions either from the manufacturer KOMA Modular in Vizovice or the distributor KOMA Space in Vienna.