Raising New Roofs

By Jeremy Caplan

Building in a Bag

Stuffing a building into a bag is no easy task. Nor is erecting a concrete structure in less than an hour. But Peter Brewin and William Crawford have figured out how to do both. The two British engineers, both 26, dreamed up the Concrete Canvas--a sack of cement-impregnated fabric that morphs into an emergency shelter with the addition of two simple ingredients: water and air. Brewin says the hut can be deployed by a single untrained person in about 40 minutes. Before being inflated, the bag containing the construction material weighs about 500 lbs. The builder fills the sack with water, then inflates it. The hut hardens and is ready just 12 hours later. Once built, the shelter yields 172 sq. ft. of floor space and is projected to cost about $2,100 and last 10 years. The objective is to facilitate the quick assembly of structures that are much stronger and more durable than tents. "[Concrete Canvas] gives aid agencies and the military an advantage by allowing a hardened building from Day One of a crisis," says Brewin. "From field research in Uganda, we observed that a usable building always has value in the reconstruction phase after a disaster." The pair are developing plans to market their product. Demand shouldn't be an issue. Relief agencies in Africa have already expressed a need for such shelters. Disaster, both human and natural, is unceasing.