WTA Architecture + Design Studio has created emergency medical structures to aid hospitals in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Manila-based WTA Architecture + Design Studio has recently built emergency quarantine facilities to help hospitals in the Philippines deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The temporary structures are being built to house persons under investigation (PUIs) and prevent them from spreading the infection. WTA, which made the designs open source, is pushing to build 62 emergency structures. At the moment, it has completed 15, and another 32 are under construction.
The facilities are intended to increase capacities of hospitals and institutions in the Philippines, and feature simple designs that can be constructed within five days, assuming the materials are readily available.
Each structure is six by 26 metres and features 15 beds and two toilets. Patients and healthcare workers have separate entrances, while doctors have their own external testing box to check patients without having to enter the facility completely. According to the architects, airflow is directed from front to rear, with side vents that discharge air away from the beds to prevent re-circulation.
With 62 emergency quarantine facilities, WTA is providing 1,000 new beds. The studio has made the designs open source, and they are available online through this link.
“It is our fervent hope that more groups [will] take up the designs and do with them as they please, so we can build more facilities faster,” said William Ti, founder of WTA.
He added, “At this point of our build journey, we all know that it takes a village to treat the sick and heal the wounded. It also takes a village to sustain what we have started…a village to accomplish all these worthy acts. Help us flatten the curve because your participation matters, and your help can build a village that will save lives and bring families together again.”
