Gallery: A Breakthrough Hospital Designed to Squash Cholera Epidemics
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MASS Design, a non-profit based in Boston, was tapped to design a cholera treatment center for Port Au Prince, Haiti--the first permanent one in the city. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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In their research, MASS found that waste water from the existing temporary facilities was often being dumped prematurely. In response, it designed a facility with two distinct but equally vital jobs: it treats both people and their waste water. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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With the help of California-based Fall Creek Engineering, MASS incorporated a passive purification system directly below the treatment center. Waste spends up to five days passing through a series of vertical chambers, with anaerobic bacteria breaking down hazardous matter from solid to liquid along the way. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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In a highly contagious environment like a cholera clinic, minimizing spillage of waste water is paramount, so the design calls for deep, concrete sinks set directly into the building’s foundation. The basins resist spills, thanks to the concrete, with the drains taking waste water directly to the treatment facility below. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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Cleaning is also a priority. The composite terrazzo floor is amenable to mopping and bleaching; lifts on the edge of the floor plan feature drains where excess water can be pushed. All water for cleaning comes from rainwater collected in catchments. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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An open-air, pavilion-style design promotes a continuous cross-breeze, meaning everything dries quickly with the open air. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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But when you’re creating something that leans so heavily on the natural environment, you have to design precisely to that location. During an intensive thorough solar analysis, for example, experts determined that two roof modules had to be rotated 90 degrees to prevent glare during Haiti’s rainy, Cholera-suspectible summer seasons. *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
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“You have to hyper-customize the solution,” as MASS CEO Michael Murphy puts it. “There’s a prototypical process, but there’s no prototype.” *Photo: Andrew White/WIRED*
