A home for everyone

Carol Prince, marketing director at RWN Trading, says that portable shelter systems might be the answer to issues surrounding labour camps in the Middle East.

Will portable shelter systems become important in the UAE?

The use of collapsible portable shelter system units will rise since the Dubai Municipality (DM) has clamped down on substandard facilities. A DM report mentions that up to 40% of the 1033 permanent and temporary labour camps in Dubai alone could be forced to close as they do not meet the minimum level of health and safety standards.

Construction companies are finding that by using portable shelter systems they are able to have their workers on site and do away with the transportation costs of ferrying staff to and from the work site.

Accommodation units are frequently many miles away from the place of construction and this will also save hours of commuting time and transportation costs.

What is unique about your portable products?

The Alihut product, through its features, both aesthetic and in terms of overall versatility, is the next step for the portable housing industry and could be the solution that labour camp owners are looking for.

Alihut is a logical solution to the crisis of labour camps, but there is also a humanitarian need to offer a better standard of accommodation to the construction workers here in the UAE.

What makes Alihut stand apart from other products in the market?

Logistically, current industry products only allow for the movement of one portable housing structure at a time. Alihut on the other hand can be moved as six units at a time.

Where other products remain erect at all times, Alihut folds down to 550mm in size allowing, with the specifically designed racking system, for six units to be moved in place of the usual one. This instantly reduces transport costs to one sixth of the ordinary costs to move six demountable housing units.

Deployment of Alihut reduces labour and costs in erecting this type of housing unit. In the past, to erect and have a portable housing unit functioning would be very labour intensive.

The Alihut as a collapsible shelter, however, can be erected within 20 minutes using the inbuilt motor or within an hour using the manual wind-up system.

From the 550mm flat pack the Alihut erects to become a standard 6m-long demountable housing unit with a 2.4m ceiling clearance and 2.4m width. Not only is the set up time far less than other industry products, but after the unit is erected all amenities are simply connected via an exterior connection, thus removing the need for trades and interior work to be completed only when the unit is set up.

Once erect its insulation is certified for -50 to +50 degrees and is fully cyclone rated with a complete range of layout options and accessories to fit out as desired.

Can these units be customised?

The standard 6m by 2.4m configuration can be custom built up to 12m, including the ability to attach units together in order to fulfill floor space requirements. In addition there are also added customisations to include interior configurations such as medical facilities, storage facilities or as emergency shelters.

Customisations can go further to include a variety of colours, both internal and external, company logos, window and door configurations, floors specifications, power sources, internet options, furnishings and kitchenette appliances.

The prospects of a highly simplistic transport and deployment system for portable housing units are limitless in areas of disaster relief, military operations, humanitarian aid and the mining industry.

What new projects are you working on?

We had envisioned that the main areas of enquiries would be from the governmental department for labour camps, humanitarian rescue situations and emergency housing.

But, we have had interest in providing temporary office and housing solution from the International Spill Control Organisation (Isco), who deal with chemical and oil spill emergency situations worldwide.