Researchers will today begin a three-year project to design housing for refugee camps in extreme climates where temperatures range from 45C to -10C. The international team behind the Healthy Housing for the Displaced project, led by Bath University, aim to improve living conditions for refugees by creating low-cost and easy-to-construct housing.

Their 20 shelter designs will moderate extremes of temperature and ensure the privacy, comfort and dignity of residents. The research will be the largest global study into thermal, social and air-quality conditions in camps housing displaced people.

Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan, the German Jordanian University and Mersin University in Turkey are collaborating on the work. Those living in the refugee camps, as well as aid agencies, will be asked for their views on how housing and social care can be improved.

Jason Hart, senior lecturer in the anthropology of development at Bath University, has worked with refugees in Jordan and the Middle East for 20 years. “I have witnessed first-hand the daily struggles of displaced people to lead dignified lives in difficult conditions, and decent housing can make an immense difference,” he said. “I am therefore excited to collaborate with colleagues from the fields of architecture and civil engineering in a process of shelter design that meaningfully engages the views and aspirations of refugees themselves.”

A recent pilot study conducted by the research team found that shelter design can create problems for refugees, increasing demands on humanitarian organisations. Health can be undermined when poorly insulated shelters fail to moderate extremes of temperatures, while design that fails to meet privacy and security needs can harm wellbeing.

The researchers will use novel combinations of conventional and unconventional materials

to ensure that the shelters naturally stay warm in winter and cool in summer.

Of the 20 designs, six will be built in the UK to test construction times, and be thermally tested in a climate chamber at Bath University. The most promising will then be transported to Jordan to be tested in local conditions, with camp occupants and aid agencies providing feedback.

Refugee camps were originally seen as a short-term solution to mass migration, but many across the world end up persisting for decades. The world is currently witnessing the highest ever recorded levels of human displacement, with conflicts such as that in Syria leading to the creation of a new generation of refugee camps.

Prof David Coley of Bath University said: “The extreme climates experienced by those living in refugee camps inspired me to propose this project, which will truly push the boundaries of my research into low-energy building design.”

As well as Jordan, research will be conducted in refugee camps in three other countries selected to provide as wide a range of climatic, cultural, social and political conditions as possible. The team currently envisage working in Thailand, Turkey and Tanzania. They will also create a manual to explain the benefits of each shelter design, provide guidance on matching design to context and offer guidelines on construction.



Prof Abdallah al-Zoubi, vice-president of Princess Sumaya University, said: “Our involvement in the project represents a tiny bit of the greater efforts Jordan is exerting in hosting the unfortunate children of Syria who are facing extreme conditions living in the desert. We hope that the results and outcomes of the project will ease the suffering of refugees and lead to a dignified stay in Jordan before their final short journey back home.”

The project has received £1.5m of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.