MOBILE MEDIC PODS
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Chelsea Kirk Senior Studio Fall 2008
CONCEPT PROCESS DESIGN REFERENCES
HOW CAN AN INDUSTRIAL SHIPPING CONTAINER BE TRANSFORMED INTO A HUMAN CENTERED HEALING POD?
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Our changing world has presented our generation with newfound problems to overcome. The emerging population of aging baby boomers and the increasing level of natural disasters and war all require the need for more patient clinics medical facilities.
The concept is to design a mobile, pre-fab medical facilities by converting shipping containers into self-contained healing pods. To solve this problem I needed to design a mobile, pre-fab medical pod that can be transported to areas in need of temporary medical facilities. After researching possible forms for the healing pods, I concluded that shipping containers are durable materials that can easily be converted into structures for human occupancy. Shipping containers are a practical and sustainable building material that can be used to build homes, offices, studios, schools, and emergency facilities such as shelters and medical clinics. Its inherent strength, durability, and portability make shipping containers an ideal material for creating pre-fabricated structures that can be easily shipped to locations all around the world.
•DURABLE Shipping containers are designed to carry and support heavy loads and resist harsh environmental conditions. •MODULAR All containers are designed with the same standard measurements. They are made to interlock for ease of transport, making the containers perfect modular structures to create larger forms. •EASE OF TRANSPORT Because of their standardized measurements, converted shipping containers are easily transported by ship, trucks, or trains. •AVAILABILITY There is an abundance of shipping containers in countries where more goods are being imported than exported, such as the United States. Instead of shipping back empty containers, it is often cheaper to find new applications for the containers.
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Shipping containers come in two standard lengths, 20’ and 40’. I first started to work with the 20’ length, trying to fit two patient rooms in one container. I then tried to put two 20’ containers side by side, with cut-outs for access between the rooms. After playing with several different arrangements I decided to use a 40’ container, which was enough space for two patient rooms with a shared restroom.
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The final design utilizes every inch of the 40’ shipping container to create two patient rooms and one shared bathroom. Built in furniture, cabinets, and fixtures make each pre-fabricated healing pod a sturdy, easily transportable medical facility. Each room has a clinic space and a separate patient quarters with a curtain for privacy. The clinic space has a large work surface, multiple storage drawers and cabinets, and a sink for hand washing. The patient area has a built-in bed with ample room for bringing in a gurney for transporting patients to other areas. A floor to ceiling cabinet allows patients to store personal items as well as any clothing they might have. Sliding glass doors and frameless glass walls shelters the patient quarters from the outdoors but still provides natural light to infiltrate the space. Glass walls also allow nurses to have full visual access to the patient when not in the room with them. Solar panels line the tops of each pod allow the pods to be energy independent. A separate support pod connects to the group of medical pods that is stocked with a back up generator, water cistern, and solar battery array.
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PLAN
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SECTION
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Recycled rubber flooring
Recycled rubber flooring
Bamboo veneer
Stainless steel
Sustainable textile
Recycled glass tile
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The beauty of shipping container medical pods is that there are endless configurations and layouts that the pods can be placed in. One layout that I have designed consists of two patient pods with a nurse station/lab in the center. The two patient pods’ sides fold down to create the decking while the nurse station pod’s sides folds up creating a built in canopy. A simple wood ramp on one side of the configuration provides easy access into the pods. This plan layout accommodates four patient quarters, two restrooms, and a nurse station for up to ten nurses and staff.
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Addis Containers www.containerarchitecture.com Container City www.containercity.com Inhabitat www.inhabitat.com Hybrid Seattle www.hybridseattle.com
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