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The Emergency Quarantine Facilities (EQF) Wins B1M Construction Story of the Year 2021
WTA Architecture and Design Studio
November 11, 2021
We are delighted to announce that WTA Architecture and Design Studio has won the B1M Construction Story of the Year 2021 for its Emergency Quarantine Facilities! It has been an opportunity for the team, industry friends and key partners who helped along the way to highlight a powerful part in our industry. Being able to contribute to society in light of our current situation is something that drives the team to continue to innovate, collaborate, and learn from other people.
The Emergency Quarantine Facility (EQF) Project, was an initiative to augment and increase the capacity of our hospitals during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and help flatten the curve of the pandemic growth. It consists of a temporary structure design that embodies speed and scalability. The structures were simple and comprised of readily-available materials, which allowed the teams to build them in 5 days. Plans were made open source to allow people from other provinces, islands and countries to access and use the same design.
“We learned from the builders, it taught us how much more we can learn from the communities when it comes to designing and building, moving forward,” says William Ti, Principal Architect of WTA Architecture and Design Studio
Collaboration played a huge role in the success of these EQFs. WTA, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, medical experts, industry partners and sponsors, built more that 3,500 additional beds in the Philippines.
“We are proud that we were able to show that architecture and the building industry play a vital role in society. Even in an emergency, shelter is still vital and it shows how we can come up with new ideas quickly, collaborate, and bring everyone together.“ – William Ti
In a video by B1M, William explains how fulfilling it is to see something that one builds or thinks about coming to fruition. He believes that we cannot be paralysed by fear during an emergency and points out how action and agency can lead to so many things. This is what can set one apart from others.
A big thank you to everyone who supported and made our Emergency Quarantine Facilities possible!
Learn more about the EQFs here.