Metamorphosis for Resilience - A quarantine Centre on rail

University of Moratuwa (UoM), Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Moratuwa

Project idea

The project is a quarantine centre + a refuge for a disaster situation. In the small island Sir Lanka, the railway is covering a fair amount of land and at this quarantine period due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the railway is not functioning. The idea is to convert a train in to a quarantine centre, and further as a refuge for disaster situations and tourist shelter.

Project description

Metamorphosis for resilience

Covid 19 changed the face of the earth as never before. Every single corner of the world felt the horror. Countries, cities fell. Home will not be the same after the pandemic. The virus outbreak could make human race put on the back foot. People went outnumbered, and still we are running out of resources. The new world will be much different to the one we see. The need of rethinking about the settlement, population and distribution of resources will rise. At this time what the human race has to do is hibernate and get ready for the new world.
The situation in our own country is different from others. We need to manage our extremely limited resources to survive the situation.



Primary questions;
• How to achieve ‘social distancing’ both in pre-construction period and post construction period.
- Before going in to the ‘construction of a quarantine centre and the self-isolation pod’ the need of following the text book of quarantine period popped up that to consider ‘social distancing’, even during the construction. If the construction process is big or time taking, the need of workforce and man hours is high. So the solution should be simple, quick and with familiar details and materials.
Also after the completion, it needs to be located away from the community but still within an accessible distance for supplies and in an emergency situation.
• How to shape with the pace of the pandemic.
-This virus outbreak is so quick to spread, the reaction should be extremely quick. So the solution should not take time to be designed, constructed and moved to the distant places if needed. And on the other hand, there is absolutely no time to think about innovations or importation of materials. Thus it is needed to stick with the resources that are available in the sense of both trained workmanship and materials.
• How to treat the psychological affects during the isolation.
-Being stuck in a small cell for 14 or more days is unarguably as stressful as being in a prison. No matter what size is the chamber, you start experiencing anxiety after few days, by staying without looking for at least a new view from your window.
• How to stay ready for the increasing numbers
-As the numbers increase the need of attaching more and more units to a single supply string emerges.
• How to provide a solution which is protected from the other disasters.
-Sri Lanka is a tropical country that is frequently subjected to monsoonal rains. It is pretty obvious that during monsoons the country experiences storms, floods, landslides and many more. So no need to mention that this quarantine centre should be resilient to these possibilities and protected from them.

Looking into the future;
• How to resist other pandemics in the future/ a technology that can be used again.
-For a fact we know that this is not the last pandemic situation we will experience in our lifetimes. The solution must be a long term solution, so in a next time there will be no need of innovating a new technology, but the technology will remain even without the existence of the product. Thus, this should be a solution that can be transformed both ways, back and forth.
• How to use the technology for the benefits of others/workers
-Ones the pandemic is ended this solution should not be a white elephant so this technology can be used for another function.
Railway is a space that is meant to extend along on its own axel. And train itself is not meant to be established as a shelter. But still it is a good transformable space that can be converted as a shelter, and the engine is a perfect power source. But the limited space needed to be expanded. Thus, the idea of the railway, the railroad and train will get transformed from a moving, mobile idea to a stable image that still has wheels.
On the other hand as the railway is laid, some common spatial constituents are laid along the rail road all over the island. The train can move anywhere on the track, so it can stay on track. Whether it is in a city or on a mountain or by the sea, no matter in what surrounding. In this case, the idea of context, is powerless to some extent. Railway covers a vast area of Sri Lankan soil, as well as almost all the Sri Lankan geographical, climatic, social, economic and ethnic contexts. But here what matters is, the greatest common divisor; the train on tracks. Since the pandemic forced to lockdown the country, the railway is not functioning and the space occupied by the tracks are abandoned.

How it becomes the solution.
• How to achieve ‘social distancing’ both in pre-construction period and post construction period.
- This facility is constructed by the railway workers in their workshops, and designed in a way that can be assembled and casted easily by gathering of less number of people because material wise or technology wise this is not a heavy duty.
• How to shape with the pace of the pandemic.
-The resources (material/workmanship) are already available and will be available in anytime in the future as the railway exists, so no further need of specially trained workers or importation of materials or space for storage. These shelters will always be there as normal trains after this pandemic until the next comes.
• How to treat the psychological affects during the isolation.
-The railway goes alone some eye catching locations in the country. Even though they are not so unique, they are still pleasant.
• How to stay ready for the increasing numbers
-Because of the fact that this is made by the available materials and trained workmanship, these quarantine shelters can be multiplied quickly.
• How to provide a solution which is protected from the other disasters.
-Rail road is laid, generally, avoiding the possibility of exposing to disasters. Most common natural disaster is floods in urban settings and also most of the rural areas where railroad runs. But the rail road is placed above the flood levels so it hardly get flooded. And even the road gets flooded the train deck never gets flooded.
• How to resist other pandemics in the future/ a technology that can be used again.
-In fact, as mentioned before, because of this facility is constructed by the railway workers using railway facilities, and because of the fact that this very quarantine centre is a train itself, this can be used as a train again and in another disastrous situation these trains can be reconverted as shelters.
• How to use the technology for the benefits of others/workers
-After the pandemic situation is over, the country needs special effort from all to stand again. Tourism is one of the main source of income in Sri Lankan economy. And railway itself is a very good support to the tourism of the country. As this design reveals another aspect of a train, this technology can be developed to support tourism.
On the other hand, this same facility can be used for railway workers’ use.

Technical information

In a quick response to an emergency situation, the design should respond to the facts of
• Convenience in construction
• Possibility of mass production
• Ability of fulfilling the needs.
The response is a series of prototypical unit to fulfill each need of a quarantine centre and can respond to each other in order to compose as a one centre.
Materials: Every material that is used in this design are available at the time in the country.
Workmanship: Railway workers are well trained and well equipped to do such a job.
Resources: Railway yards and sheds have all the facilities to do such a job.

There are three prototypes of train carriages designed to be assembled on the site.
(please be noted that the details and drawings are provided in the submitted PDF)

Adaptation to the situation
Even though the context factor is somewhat powerless in this case, the limit of expansion and the advantage given by different setting alone train tracks are different from place to place. So it should adopt to the setting accordingly and should get the maximum advantage out of it.
In this case, there are number of considerations to be taken before choosing the location for the quarantine centre.
1. Accessibility from a main road - the quarantine centre should be located by a rail crossing of a main road.
2. There should be a government hospital in the proximity.