As everyone knows, there’s a huge need for low cost shelters in Nepal. One of the most popular designs is the type shown above that’s being used by Byond.org. Shelters like these are fast and easy to erect. It’s interesting to see the wide variety of uses and building details. The recipients finish the end walls using their choice of materials. People are using recycled brick, adobe, wood, stone and bamboo to close the ends at minimal expense, as well as using recycled doors and windows. Details include porch roofs, vent gaps at top of end walls, benches. Some people extend the shelters to include outside laundry and baths. Free metal roofing from the government can be used on these shelters.
“We provide emergency shelter and ongoing support to get people back on their feet. The basic steel shell shelters are quickly adapted and personalized by the end users showing their remarkable resilience, ingenuity and use of recycled materials. To date over 400 shelters have been built with more to follow. As the winter approaches Byond is looking to supply wood burning stoves for cooking and heating to these transitional shelters – this work continues. We were also able to deliver, thanks to a generous donor by way of Byond New Zealand, over 1,200 solar powered lights to people and homes that had lost everything.
I looked at one of these shelters closely today. The design is even more clever than I thought. The metal frame is very simple. It’s just curved metal tubing. The metal roofing is not screwed on and there are no holes in the roofing so it can be reused later for permanent housing. It’s held down with thick galvanized wire. The edges of the roofing are crimped together for added strength.
Optional gutters can be added on the sides to capture roofwater.