Holcim and Norman Foster Foundation rethink emergency shelters

Holcim Group Services Ltd / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Holcim and Norman Foster Foundation rethink emergency shelters 07.06.2022 / 09:00 Concrete-based solutions to turn emergency shelters into sustainable and resilient homes   Concept for building 1,000 units and a medical facility in one day   Holcim and the Norman Foster Foundation are partnering to rethink emergency shelters to turn them into sustainable and resilient homes. Holcim will use its expertise in low-carbon innovative concrete-based solutions and affordable housing to design a concept for building 1,000 shelters and a medical facility in one day. The overall goal is to offer dignified and resilient accommodation to the world’s growing number of displaced people.

Jan Jenisch, CEO, Holcim: “Currently we have over 80 million people who have been forced to flee their homes around the world. Emergency shelters can be more than just a roof over their head: they should offer people the dignity and safety of a home. We are excited to collaborate with the Norman Foster Foundation to put our solutions as well as our expertise in affordable housing to work to achieve this goal.”

Lord Norman Foster, President, Norman Foster Foundation: “The Norman Foster Foundation is delighted to be working with Holcim in paving the way towards sustainable and reusable emergency housing. We look forward to the solutions that will be developed by the scholars to address current needs and anticipate future ones.”

The collaboration will kick-start at a one-week workshop that will take place from 6–10 June 2022, in Madrid, Spain. To find solutions to erect 1,000 affordable, capable of disassembly, reuse and recycling shelters plus a medical facility in one day, Holcim will focus on innovations such as low-carbon concrete, lightweight prefabricated support structures and green cements for soil stabilization, combined with its experience in building affordable housing.