BALL is life, as they say.
And in the time of COVID-19, architectural firm Palafox Associates plans to give a new spin on this saying by converting community basketball courts into Ligtas COVID Centers — temporary facilities to house persons infected with the novel coronavirus.
In a proposal paper, Palafox Associates and their partners in this plan argued that while 80% of most coronavirus cases are mild and only need to be quarantined at home, “self isolation is not possible for many Filipino households (e.g. crowded living conditions, presence of vulnerable persons in the household).”
They continued: “A community managed LIGTAS COVID Center provides an alternative for such individuals and households.”
Basketball courts are ideal locations, as there’s one in almost every barangay. “In our proposed design,” they write, “a basketball court [...] can be retrofitted to provide basic room and board accommodation, and supportive care.”
Each converted basketball court will be able to house 32 patients and 4 support or health personnel.
They estimated that the cost to retrofit one of these courts would be around half a million pesos, ranging from P528,308 (cheapest option) to P581,885.
The proposal team included architects, engineers, planners, interior designers, disaster response experts, and health professionals. Palafox Associates worked with the Phiippine Society of Public Health Physicians and the Alliance for Improving Health Outcomes.
The team based their designs from the World Health Organization’s SARS treatment centers. Here are some 3D mock-ups:
And here’s the full floor plan (divided into specialized, compartmentalized zones), as well as the room plan:
If you want, you can view the entire proposal plan here.
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