Building in a bag
Designed by Peter Brewin and William Crawford, Concrete Canvas is a rapidly deployable hardened shelter for disaster victims. The system is delivered folded and sealed in a sack which is then filled with water. After the cement inside is hydrated, the sack is unfolded to form the shelter’s footprint. A plastic inner tube is then inflated by activating a small chemical pack. The cement impregnated cloth cures into a dome shape, and is ready to use in 12 hours. Seven trial shelters are planned to be field tested by April 2007 and production should start in April 2008. Crawford Brewin Ltd., Northhampton, U.K. www.concretecanvas.org.uk