It looks as though Ikea’s refugee shelters have entered production, and there will be a whopping 10,000 units that are touted to roll out later this year. Of course, this would be good news to say the least, although one cannot help but suspect that this is but a start – especially when you take into consideration how there will be a whole lot more refugee families worldwide with the passing passage of time. Having said that, the fragile situation in the Middle East does not help, either, with many families and people groups being displaced along the way.
It goes without saying that Ikea’s refugee shelter will be shipped to the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) – in a signature flatpack manner, too, for ease of transportation, loading and unloading. Known as the Better Shelter, it is able to be assembled without the need for any kind of specialist tools, taking approximately four hours to do so to boot. Sure as heck beats building a new temporary shelter from scratch, right?
This unique shelter is made up of a metal frame of pipes and connectors, where there will be stiffening wires that offers adequate support to the structure. Of course, the 4 hour assembly time is not achievable via a solo effort, but will need a group of four people with some basic training. It should be able to house a family comfortably with the 188 square feet of space.
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