Proposed Occupant Definition

These informal transitional spaces that punctuate the in-betweens of industrial buildings can become a more meaningful network of areas for the migrant workers in the proposed design.

2.6 Proposed Occupant Definition

Based on the literature review and analysis, the following can be concluded: • A considerable portion of the migrant worker population is males aged 25-54 years and employed in the building and construction industry.

Therefore, this will be the target user for the proposed design.

• These workers sharing accommodation are grouped based on their staggered shift timings. This means that rooms will always be occupied throughout the day and would be a key consideration in designing the adaptability of the spaces for day and night occupation. In the morning, from 6 am to 6 pm by the night-shift worker and in the evening, from 6 pm to 6 am, by day-shift workers.

• The current densities in labor camps can vary from dense to sparse from camp to camp. The project proposes a medium-density camp with a reasonable area per person (Figure 2.5).

• Thermal shock, lack of natural ventilation, and daylight need to be addressed through passive design and environmental strategies to improve the comfort and well-being of the migrant workers in these camps.

• Due to social exclusion at the state level and lack of community spaces at the urban and built level, diverse and meaningful social spaces are programmatic essentials. These could be introduced in the project through various transitional spaces that could also resolve the issues mentioned in the point above.

• For the purposes of developing an effective design, three theoretical occupants are defined to represent migrant workers in labor camps. Figure 2.7 breaks down each theoretical occupant’s occupancy schedule and room layout requirements. This breakdown will later guide and inform the design decisions in chapter 7.

Figure 2.7 Breakdown of theoretical occupants, layouts and their occupancy schedules

“In practice ‘comfort’ has been operationally defined as the ‘absence of discomfort’. In other words, the engineering view of ideal comfort implies an absence of sensation, where a perfect thermal environment might be one that is never noticed at all. But this doesn’t leave much room for anything in between ‘neutrality’ and ‘misery’.”

- Brager and de Dear (2003).