Designing Sustainable Transitional Shelters: A Shape-Resistant, Locally Sourced Shel.lar for Vulnerable Communities

The phenomenon of displaced people, refugees, and people who suddenly find themselves without a house has become a highly relevant issue. This is due to the outbreak of conflicts, the persistent presence of unstable political situations, as well as the occurrence of natural disasters resulting from the now irreversible climate change. Shelters could represent a solution to provide refuge to all those who find themselves involved in these situations. Their design should comply with international regulations. However, to date, the recommended solutions do not consider certain factors: among these, the possibility of building with locally available materials, as well as the need to create economically and ecologically sustainable shelters. This work aims to address these gaps in the implementation of transitional shelters. A shelter with a shell shape - resistant through form -, made of stacked earthbags arranged in several rows, was designed to comply with international standards. Energy autonomy has been achieved through thin-film photovoltaic products applied on the outer surface of the shell (BAPV). The results presented in this work confirmed the concept design of the shelter. Further evaluations have to be conducted to improve the design of the shelter for the fine tuning of this building system.