‘Prefab houses’ – answer for those fleeing from COVID-19

Move to house large numbers of workers

KUWAIT CITY, April 11: In light of concerns that epidemiological investigations suggest safe spaces for large numbers of workers, there is urgent need for prefabricated buildings during the coming period, which the official authorities may need in large numbers, reports Al-Rai daily.

In this regard, several Kuwaiti company owners and factories specialized in prefabricated houses have affirmed their complete readiness to provide all requirements such as homes for workers, warehouses, mobile hospitals or ready quarantines, while some announced placing their factories at the disposal of the Public Authority for Industry from the beginning of the crisis.

“This is not new to the people, as it always comes to affirm that this land has people who redeem it with their souls”, they said. In this context, CEO of Speedhouse Factory Management Engineer Hamad Al-Anzi who manages one of the projects of the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Development said, “We use a European technology in construction. A technology that is common in New Zealand and Australia, and also applied in the Gulf countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia that rely on manufacturing in the factory using advanced modern equipment with design programs transferred to the machine, which in turn makes the entire structure of galvanized iron, resistant to weather factors “.

He added, “The equipment and machinery perform approximately 80 percent of the construction process and reduces human intervention. Upon installing the structure, cement boards are used to cover the walls inside out, with thermal insulation that resists the temperature of Kuwait”.

He pointed out that “one of the advantages of these homes is that they are very fast to process and saves more than 80 percent of the time- compared to the usual structure, so a thousand rooms can be produced in less than 40 days.” He added, “We can cover the needs of government agencies under these circumstances, to make quarantines, field hospitals or any building, whether temporary or permanent,” noting they’re implementing a number of projects with different government agencies.

He said, “We can move the machine and work on the job site and we have the capability to meet the need of Kuwait for hospitals ready to meet all requirements.” Meanwhile, Al-Rabitah Prefabricated Buildings Factory Director Engineer Hamad Al- Anbay disclosed: “At the beginning of the current crisis, we addressed the Public Authority of Industry to put the factory at its disposal if necessary, and this is the least we can offer to our beloved country.” He pointed out that “the Prefabricated Buildings Factory offers several solutions from workers’ housing, annexes to homes, restaurants and mobile homes.”

Factory He added, “The factory can raise its production capacity if necessary, especially in light of the current situation,” considering that “prefab houses have many advantages, most notably the flexibility of design, speed of implementation and benefitting from the structure for re-use, and ease of transportation.”

Owner of Atlas Prefabricated Buildings Company Hussein Kamal said “the factory we are dealing with is in Turkey and the company is ready to work in camps, engineer and housing sites for government agencies, quarantines, medical clinics and stores.” He concluded, “Our communication with the factories is still standing, while Kuwaiti companies and factories are able to meet the demand even without financial benefit, as all companies have reduced prices in order to help in this crisis.”

15 prefabricated houses per week Al-Anbay considered the production capacity is related to the type of demand, as the factory can produce about 15 prefabricated houses per week for workers, which is two rooms and necessary facilities for one house, while the cost depends on the specification and final finishing materials. He pointed out that “our factory has supplied prefabricated buildings for many governmental entities”.

Product The product life is 120 years Al-Enezi pointed out that the life of the product the company offers extends to about 120 years and it is characterized by a low need for maintenance, in addition to ease of electrical and sanitary installations, because of the openings that are made in the factory.

On the designs and their diversity, he said “ there is a great flexibility in the design and the company exported some structures to Saudi and the cost per square meter ranges from 100 to 120 dinars with the best finishing. Field hospitals that can be removed and installed Kamal said in normal circumstances, 100 rooms can be produced per month, with extensions made according to the agreed plan and installed in the factory. He pointed out that prefab houses resist temperature and can be used for field hospitals, removed and installed again.