Our latest large-scale production of an outside design is the Rapid Deployment Module, a collaboration with The Barendsen Rossi Collaborative. Rapid Deployment Modules are the third emergency housing system that we have produced over the last two years. The first was Domes for Haiti soon after the earthquake in 2010, and earlier this year we built a big batch of SoftHouses.
The Rapid Deployment Modules differ in that we are not building a fully-surrounding skin for a frame. The frame and walls are solid and pre-fabricated. We build the cloth roofs with screened windows, and large shade flies that hang at an angle above the roof.
RDM by BRC from Jono Reduker on Vimeo.
Our portions of the RDM construction - set up on the ground for lack of a frame.
The roofs were built with cloth called Odyssey from Bainbridge International. This cloth is waterproof, lightweight, breathable, and mildew resistant. The fly is built from a relatively heavy weight ripstop nylon, identical to the cloth used for sailing spinnakers. The corners have reinforcing patches, and the handy, color-coded straps make set-up very simple.
The first batch of RDMs has been complete for a little while now. We’re looking forward to seeing some pictures of them in use, and we will share them with you here when they arrive!
