Improving the shelter design process via a shelter assessment matrix

Millions are living in shelters around the world, often for decades. Architects are rarely trained in shelter design and as a result speculative designs are frequently impractical or insensitive to occupants. In addition, aid agency staff can lack engineering or architectural knowledge, so need support during shelter procurement. Evidence gathered by the authors in seven countries over three years revealed poor conditions within many shelters, including condensation, excessive temperatures, lack of privacy and poor air quality, all of which contribute to increased morbidity and mortality. To address this, the paper proposes a design assessment platform, the Shelter Assessment Matrix (SAM), covering 34 issues. SAM also includes guidance documents that allow users to upskill themselves on a range of topics. The tool was tested in three ways: (i) 11 agency staff were asked to assess the same shelter. The mean score was 45.7/100, standard deviation (SD) 2.96. The narrow SD indicated that SAM provided consistent scoring. (ii) 187 previously deployed shelters were evaluated and scored between 27 and 78. This suggests that SAM generates a range of scores, and that shelters could be improved. This evaluation also provides the first contextualised performance analysis of shelters around the world, and a repository for others to judge their designs against. (iii) Use of the platform resulted in considerable measured uplifts in building science and cultural knowledge. SAM has been made freely available online and has been used by agencies to materially improve the design of shelters for thousands of individuals in four countries. •SAM is a shelter design assessment platform with a 34-issue scoring system covering building physics to culture. It improves post-disaster shelter conditions.•SAM includes guidance documents for user upskilling and sub-tools like temperature calculators. It's freely available online for global use.•11 specialists tested SAM, yielding consistent outputs (mean 45.7/100, SD 2.96). 187 deployed shelters scored 27–78/100, showing improvement potential.•A pedagogical experiment showed SAM significantly improves users' building science knowledge and awareness of cultural aspects in displaced housing.•SAM can assess individual shelters, test performance across climates/cultures, support new designers, and aid in writing or scoring shelter tenders.•Many current shelters lack suitable health conditions. Architects and agencies seek assessment tools t