At the start of this year, beMatrix CEO Stefaan Decroos met with Benjamin Denef of DMOA Architects. With innovation being a cornerstone of both businesses, they have one other thing in common: they offer a solution for temporary constructions that are sustainable at the same time. Maggie Program is the non-profit department of DMOA architects, a forward-thinking architect and engineering firm based in Heverlee (BE). They deploy their specific know-how for small-scale construction projects, such as novel solutions to be used in remote areas or conflict zones, to help give people on the run in their own country access to health care, schooling and independence. 

Their first brainchild was the Maggie shelter. This construction looks like a tent but has the same qualities a permanent building has. Its design is based on thirty life-saving criteria. The structure itself consists of an easy to assemble aluminium frame, covered with a double layer of canvas, which serves as walls and roof. The gap between the layers can be filled with locally available material, such as insulation, sand, natural material and even plastic waste. Maggie Shelter is a sustainable and insulated temporary and modular building with a life cycle of up to 15 years. 

Some time ago, Panaga NGO contacted DMOA Architects. Panaga NGO is an independent and local organisation that sets up educational and trauma healing programs for refugee children in their home country. Mainly active in the Duhok region (Northern Iraq), they got in touch with DMOA Architects to explore options to build an education centre in the Shariya camp in Duhok, using the innovative Maggie shelter. This camp is home to over 20,000 mainly Yezidi refugees, of which 9,000 are children.

Follow their adventures via 

https://maggie-program.org/projects-2-2/maggiegoestoyezidi-blog/ 

www.fb.com/maggieprogram