BEYOND THE REFUGE BOOK 4 REGISTRATION CENTRE
Existing Registration Centre
The Registration Centre is the first point of contact for a refugee entering a camp. Most have travelled far through inhospitable terrain. The expectations vary depending on the origins of the refugee but most are used to a sedentary lifestyle with solid walls, some semblance of infrastructure and security. New life in a tent for an indeterminate amount of time is a daunting prospect for anyone to handle.
a shuffle through a hastily erected oversized version of the tent one will soon be living in. It is however, utterly necessary. It allows authorities to track numbers and demographics of arriving populations and hence endeavour to obtain services and supplies in the correct quantities. The supply and health check that comes with it is just as important. Each family is given their tent, and basic supplies, kitchenware, blankets, mattresses. All the things that there wasn’t time to bring or were too heavy to carry.
These are some of the points this registration centre tries to address. On entering a camp registration is the first port of call,
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After the journey to the camp, some need medical attention, especially the children and the elderly. A basic health check is carried out at registration, children are given vaccinations. People classified as ‘vulnerable’ are identified at this point. Unaccompanied children, pregnant women and the very old. These are then given further attention and arrangements made to care for them. Whilst all very necessary , well meaning and essentially beneficial, the large tents can make these hectic spaces. A further traumatic experience for refugees to ‘survive’.
Al Zaatari Registration Centre
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Traditional Liwan Collonade
Traditional Riwaq Central storage/workshop room
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Covered walkway (similar to Syrian vernacular riwaq)
Storage for immediate distribution
Storage for immediate distribution
First meeting Centre (Immediate solidity)
Courtyard with covered entrance (similar to Syrian vernacular liwan)
Vulnerable persons care
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Administration Family Health and Distribution
Single Health and Distribution
Multiple Circulation Routes Permeable and connected
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REGISTRATION CENTRE PLAN 1:200
This registration centre was designed with these factors in mind. While one can not expect a fully solid building with the immediacy required in most refugee situations the phased plan of this building demands and allows a semblance of it. The registration room is the first to be given solid walls. They are basic sandwich panel construction and hence are lightweight and easily transported in a shipping container and assembled on site. The importance of solidity in this first interaction is key. This centre is about reception not processing. After fleeing from the home country and the instability of the current situation, to be surrounded by solid walls even for a short time is important and gives some kind of reassurance.
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The registration area is fronted by a colonnaded walkway which provides some much needed shade for people as they arrive. It is also derived from the Riwaqs often seen in traditional Syrian housing. Taking inspiration from the vernacular architecture of the refugees origins allows for a familiarity to form. People are better able to comprehend their environment and anything that has the potential to make the experience easier should be applied .
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Single Health and Distribution
First meeting Centre (Immediate solidity) Family Health and Distribution
REGISTRATION CENTRE ELEVATION A 1:100
Covered walkway (similar to Syrian vernacular riwaq)
Phased development allows for use of alternative building methods
Sandwich panels (portocabin)
Truss frame same steel section as tent poles
Canvas roofing Passive Ventilation and Light
Storage for immediate distribution
Vulnerable persons care and Administration
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Administration
Single Health and Distribution Vulnerable persons care
First meeting Centre (Immediate solidity)
REGISTRATION CENTRE ELEVATION B 1:100
Covered walkway (similar to Syrian vernacular riwaq)
Phased development allows for use of alternative building methods
Sandwich panels (portocabin)
Truss frame same steel section as tent poles
Canvas roofing Passive Ventilation and Light
Storage for immediate distribution
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Vulnerable persons care and Administration Family Health and Distribution
First meeting Centre (Immediate solidity)
REGISTRATION CENTRE ELEVATION C 1:100
Courtyard with covered entrance (similar to Syrian vernacular liwan)
Phased development allows for use of alternative building methods
Sandwich panels (portocabin)
Truss frame same steel section as tent poles
Canvas roofing Passive Ventilation and Light
Storage for immediate distribution
Single Health and Distribution
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Vulnerable persons care and Administration Family Health and Distribution
First meeting Centre (Immediate solidity)
REGISTRATION CENTRE SECTION 1 1:100
Courtyard with covered entrance (similar to Syrian vernacular liwan)
Phased development allows for use of alternative building methods
Sandwich panels (portocabin)
Truss frame same steel section as tent poles
Canvas roofing Passive Ventilation and Light
Storage for immediate distribution
Single Health and Distribution
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Floor treatment and shelter over health and distribution areas
First meeting centre immediately has solid walls
Floor treatment and shelter over health and distribution areas
REGISTRATION CENTRE - Phase 1 1:100
First meeting centre has solid walls
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REGISTRATION CENTRE - Phase 2 1:100
At the centre of the structure is a courtyard. This connects the registration room to the two distribution and heath rooms. Once again this is derived from traditional Syrian architecture. It creates a permeability to the building, allowing people to move freely in and out and is a natural gathering space half shaded half open.
Exterior bounding walls around health and distribution areas
Exterior bounding walls around health and distribution areas
Exterior bounding walls around administration and vulnerable persons care
The second phase sees a bounding wall built around all the additional rooms. This again creates a sense of security, an end to the wide open spaces. Families and single people are split in to two separate distribution points. These groups have different requirements and move at different speeds so it ensures people can move through registration as fast as possible. Efficient use of space reduces the pile up which can make registration centres such hectic places.
Enclosing of health and distribution areas
Formation of primary courtyard
Enclosing of health and distribution areas
First meeting centre has solid walls
Segregation of administration and vulnerable persons care
The space for vulnerable persons is connected to its own small courtyard, allowing children to play outside while they wait. The administration area remains well connected to the centre as opposed to having it situated elsewhere. This allows staff to keep a finger on the pulse of the camp and be aware of what is going on. Whilst it is necessary to maintain some degree of separation between camp staff and refugees, alienating them to each other is never helpful.
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REGISTRATION CENTRE - Phase 3 1:100
As the phases progress the interior spaces get enclosed according to use. Once again these partitions are all light weight sandwich panels which are easily lifted in to place. Each distribution point has its own riwaq further encouraging permeability.
Enclosing of internal courtyard (Liwan)
First meeting centre has solid walls
Formation of secondary courtyard
Internal walls of administration and vulnerable persons care
Exiting the courtyard is done through a covered walkway. This echoes the Liwans in traditional Syrian architecture, where two rooms were connected by an open one, usually used for storage or as a workshop.
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REGISTRATION CENTRE - Phase 4 1:100
Storage for basic supplies is allocated towards the front of the building, though the majority is kept elsewhere. Vouchers and tokens are given in the centre to be used throughout the camp.
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ROOF STRUCTURE The roof appears complex but is very simply constructed. Fabricated from the same poles as the standard UNHCR tent it can be easily transported. The trusses are clipped together on site, a veritable IKEA of construction components. However once assembled they are very rigid. The two meter spaced sections are modular and can be lifted in to place by two people. Notched fabricated in the sandwich panel walls allow for them to be easily slotted in to place and secured.
As such the lighting is strung from the trusses and can be adjusted and customised dependant on resources available in each situation. Over all, this registration centre provides a much improved first experience of the camp and proves we can do much more than an oversized tent. Being sensitive to the mental health and wellbeing of the refugees as they arrive and aligning with the programmatic requirements that allow staff to do their job efficiently.
This light weight roof allows for light to enter the rooms without compromising privacy. Ventilation can happen naturally in the arid climate as electricity is never a surety in the extreme environments.
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REGISTRATION SITING INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIFICATIONS
1 - Placed on periphery for arriving refugees 2 - Open Public space for meeting/finding 3 - Connection to residential areas 4 - Good sanitary services 5 - Power generator 6 - Proximity to religious site 7 - Clear wayfinding to distribution 8 - Clear wayfinding to medical centre 9 - Proximity to relevant NGO Offices 10 Permeable Barrier to camp
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THE REGISTRATION CENTRE - ADAPTABILITY The Centre’s cellular nature means that it can be laid out in a variety of ways. As long as the programmatic requirements are understood by those on site it will be effective. Different layouts are more suitable to different cultures and populations and this should be taken in to account. In the larger camps or where there is a high influx combinations of centres can be used which can then be repurposed as community sites as needed.
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Main Courtyard - Hypothetical Earth bag Construction
Exit from Courtyard to camp - Hypothetical Gabion Construction
Storage of basic supplies by Front Entrance
THE REGISTRATION CENTRE - REPRESENTATIONS 26
Shaded Front Riwaq
Family Health and Distribution to Courtyard - Hypothetical Gabion Construction
Primary Registration Room
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