The Emergency Cabin
The Emergency Cabin is a modular system designed to quickly, efficiently, and affordably create temporary emergency shelter facilities in a wide variety of buildings and open spaces. Crucially, it provides one of the most important elements of emergency shelter: privacy for its occupants. The cabins can be used to create individual sleeping spaces in locations such as halls, office buildings, or vacant lots. The design prioritizes low cost, space efficiency, and practical functionality. Each unit can be assembled or dismantled rapidly, without the need for specialized tools or technical knowledge. The Emergency Cabin offers a dignified, private, comfortable, and safe environment for people in need of temporary accommodation, providing both personal space and secure storage for belongings.
Providing the basics
The design includes essential furniture such as a bed with integrated storage, shelves, power socket(s), lighting, and a coat rack. Inside the Emergency Cabin, users have enough space to stand, sit, and move comfortably. A chair with a fold-out wall table and/or (lockable) wardrobe, can also be mounted as an optional addition.
A cabin offers significantly more privacy than a bunkbed in a traditional dormitory setting, bringing with it important mental-health benefits. It restores a sense of autonomy, provides the basic amenities needed for a dignified stay, and creates a calm, low-stimulus environment where personal belongings can be stored securely.
Each cabin is constructed from six plywood panels that can be easily disassembled, transported flat, and stored compactly. The cabin’s plywood construction ensures a robust, long-lasting structure that can handle heavy use with ease, and the cabin can be reused. This keeps installation costs consistently low, and individual components can be replaced inexpensively.
The modular units can be placed side by side—allowing for optional insulation between cabins—and can also be stacked vertically to make optimal use of available space.
The Emergency Cabin provides:
An individual, self-contained sleeping space
Privacy and secure storage for personal belongings
A low-cost solution that makes optimal use of available space
Quick assembly and easy transport and storage
Modular flexibility: units can be placed side by side or stacked vertically
A durable design that requires no specialized tools