Sustainable option

Recycling-focused studio Miniwiz, cooperating with Taiwan's government and Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital together have created a pilot modular hospital ward using recycled aluminium panels, which would allow hospitals to more effectively and faster cope with the coronavirus.

15 June, 2020
Named Modular Adaptable Convertible (MAC), the kit was specially developed as a response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The major goal was to create a sustainable, yet mobile system that would facilitate the fight with the current and future healthcare challenges.

The modular units, which can be quickly assembled in any place inside or outside a medical organization, are designed to be an alternative to unsuitable temporary wards being utilized in some countries.

Photo: Dezeen
"People avoid going to hospitals to reduce any possible contamination risks," said Miniwiz. "Therefore, many countries have built temporary, mobile-cabin hospitals on the nearby outdoor areas, but these traditional units built with basic equipment and without ventilation can have high temperatures causing discomfort for the medical staff treating the patients."

MAC consists of a kit of interlocking pars that, when connected, create negative-pressure environments to help control the risk of the virus spreading by containing the particles. The main material for the kit is recycled aluminium, which makes it lightweight and facilitates long-distance shipping and the construction's assembling within just 24 hours.

Photo: Dezeen
Additional safety measures and technologies where used for the prototype creation to make the panel as practically useful as possible. Apart from the fact that light aluminium panels are easy and fast to use, unique properties of aluminium itself do not allow coronavirus stay on the surface for a long time. Moreover, the walls inside modular wards are built from the sound absorption panels that are covered with an anti-bacterial coating and include an Ultraviolet self-cleaning system that Miniwiz said "reduces 99.9 per cent of bacteria count, while repelling viruses".

Photo: Dezeen
"Sustainable beyond concept delivery, Miniwiz will maximize the use of post-consumer single-use material including aluminium cans and PET bottles," said the studio. "These materials will then be upcycled into medical-grade antiviral/bacterial materials."

Following the completion of its prototype Miniwiz is hoping to collaborate further with Fu Jen Hospital to install additional modular units and then work with other healthcare organizations.

"Since the news launch, we've received multiple inbound interest from healthcare providers in various countries," said the studio.

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