Urban Poor Against COVID - 19 - Emergency Shelter for Self Isolation

Quarantine Shelter – Conceptual Design & Innovation

Year: 2020 | Location: Wanathamulla, Colombo | Category: Conceptual Design & Innovation | Academic Work

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged humanity to rethink how we live, work, and use space. With social distancing, isolation, and quarantine becoming essential, it was crucial to re-examine how spaces could support both physical and mental well-being during a health crisis.

In densely populated neighborhoods such as slums and shanties, where homes offer limited space, self-isolation is particularly challenging. This conceptual design proposed a temporary self-isolation and quarantine shelter: a system of elevated vertical modules that utilize roads and alleyways — the only available unbuilt spaces — without interrupting daily life.

The prototype modules, supported by scaffolding, include compact yet functional interiors with sleeping space, sanitary facilities, and a warm wooden finish. This new structure creates a micro-neighborhood, with public spaces and domestic-scale agriculture, empowering the community even during a pandemic.

Flexible, replicable, and quick to assemble, this design uses local materials and labor, offering a humane, innovative response to an unprecedented challenge.

❮

❯