Flat-Packed Refugee Shelter Named Best Design Of 2016

Better Shelter, a social enterprise bringing design industry innovation to emergency and temporary shelter, has been named the Beazley Design of the Year at an event at London's Design Museum. It joins previous winners such as the London 2012 Olympic Torch and the Barack Obama Hope poster, with other winners on the night including a robotic surgeon and the design of David Bowie's last ever album. The shelter was designed by Johan Karlsson, Dennis Kanter, Christian Gustafsson, John van Leer, Tim de Haas, Nicolò Barlera, the IKEA Foundation and UNHCR.

The project has developed safer, more dignified homes for those who have been displaced due to conflict and natural disasters. Featuring a lockable front door and a solar powered wall, the shelter utilises flat-pack technology used in furniture design and has repurposed it to create a shelter that can be easily assembled and transported. Flat-packed in a two-box kit along with all the required tools, the shelter is easily assembled in about four hours. A photovoltaic panel provides enough energy to power the supplied light or to charge a mobile phone. 30,000 Better Shelters’ are already in use around the world and the judges chose Better Shelter as a clear demonstration of scalable design that has the ability to make a worldwide impact.

Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition runs until 19 February 2017 at Design Museum, London and more info can be found HERE.