Prefabrication experiments - 267 - Connectors - 08 - Ikea's Better Shelter

Focused on the design, fabrication and marketing of affordable furniture, Ikea has also developed housing concepts looking to expand their business model from commodities to affordable mass housing. Bloklok is their modular housing concept, which has had marginal success but has not been able to transfer Ikea's design zeitgeist to housing. The source of the multinational's success is the democratization of good and contemporary design at an affordable price. Transferring this knowledge to architecture is a complex undertaking since edifices incorporate many more parts, systems, subsystems and cultural criteria when compared to furniture. Developing the same type of Design for Assembly approach to buildings leads to less holistic concepts. 

 

The Ikea foundation has recently developed a shelter for refugee camps or climate emergencies, which uses a small number of components to assemble a temporary dwelling. Considering the fact that most transient dwellings need to endure a service life of more than the few months accorded by tents, the Ikea foundation's better shelter offers a lifespan of three years and could theoretically be disassembled a few times and relocated during its lifespan.

 

A galvanized tubular frame shapes the basic geometry of the archetypical shelter. The frame is stayed and braced in place by steel anchors and crossties. Analogue to similar temporary tent shelters, the tubular frame is far from an original proposal. The plastic wall and roof panels are fastened to the structure using simple brackets, bolts and rivets. Flat-packed in a cardboard box and delivered to any location, the structure can be nailed, screwed or tied to any surface with its adjustable and levelling strut and plate connector. The anchor is tied to a depth of 250mm into local soil to prevent horizontal movement. A tension tie is inserted to a depth of 700mm to prevent uplift. Familiar to Ikea's furniture designs is the minimal number of components and their intelligible nature reducing specialized labour and promoting self-build.  The shelter's dimensions of 3,3 m x 5,5 mm x 2,8 m in height and its structure organizes an unobstructed interior. The floor tarpaulin and envelope panels are connected to the galvanized steel structure ensuring weathertightness and adequate resistance to wind, rain or snow.

connectors and components from better shelter.org