Informal Transitional Spaces

of heat exposure during working hours, they are more sensitive to temperature variations (Ali 2010). Regulations pertaining to labor accommodation by the UAE government require all labor camps to be air-conditioned, generally with a setpoint of 19oC. This law is in place to largely overcompensate for the ongoing heat-related incidents among workers in the UAE (Human Rights Watch 2018, 41). However, this ever-growing dependence on air conditioning is making matters worse for workers, with indoor comfort temperatures well below 20°C and outdoor air temperatures ranging between 40°C -50°C. This sudden change in temperatures, when forced to go abruptly from a scorching environment into an air-conditioned one and vice versa, harms the body as it experiences thermal shock. It can cause severe respiratory infections, breathing difficulties, and muscular spasms, among other conditions. Most labor camps are basic stacked units with no transitional spaces, as evident in the images in Figure 2.5.

Mitigating this heat-stress crisis is imperative to enhance these workers’ comfort, health, and well-being. Rather than experiencing sudden temperature change, one should slowly adapt to this shift. This could be achieved through a series of transitional spaces common in the region’s vernacular architecture. They are discussed in further detail in Chapter 4.

Daylighting and Ventilation

The camps suffer from poor daylighting and ventilation because of small openings and windows that are usually blackened for privacy and security purposes. In addition, the small windows are generally fixed and not operable. Also, the constant air conditioning makes it impractical to open the windows throughout the day. As a result, the workers are forced to live in artificial environments, which reduces their health and productivity. Furthermore, with increased density and no natural ventilation, the rooms become so congested that indoor air quality deteriorates.

Lack of Social Spaces

Most labor camps lack dedicated amenities and social spaces. For instance, washing occurs in a yard next to the camp toilets. The camp blocks’ corridors and the in-between area are used to dry clothes, cook, or as gathering spaces. It is important to note that most workers are away from their families, so the community is vital to them. Therefore, social spaces become an essential programmatic requirement for the labor camps. There is a need to address these issues and use passive design and environmental strategies to improve the comfort and well-being of the migrant workers in these camps through the proposed design.

2.5 Informal Transitional Spaces

The industrial areas, where most of the labor camps are located, were initially planned as single-use zones for manufacturing and production. Due to this top-down approach, lacking shared communal and public spaces, the migrant workers have come to rely on informal urban adaptation that punctuates the inbetween spaces between built forms. For example, “ad-hoc volleyball courts and cricket pitches are constructed in empty lots, and second-hand upholstered furniture is gathered into make-shift outdoor living rooms in alleyways” (Ali 2010). Figure 2.6 shows the various forms of informal occupation of spaces between buildings and in empty lots for leisure activities by migrant workers residing in the labor camps in the industrial areas (Moussalem and Abdelsalam 2018). They lend a vibrant character to the otherwise bland neighborhood and ingrain liveability into the spaces.

Figure 2.6 Informal occupation of spaces between buildings and in empty lots for leisure activities by migrant workers residing in the industrial areas in Sharjah (Source: Moussalem and Abdelsalam 2018)