Confindustria Ceramica

uSafe Labby Thomas Foschini13   Luglio   2020

uSafe Lab, a modular triage system

The project paves the way for a new idea of corporate welfare in the post-Covid-19 time of coexistence

A customizable modular building system where the same safety guidelines of a hospital are implemented, but with less rigidity, paving the way for a new idea of corporate and community welfare. It is uSafe Lab, a true modular building sytem for triage which could be a valid ally to "reboot" companies in the post-Covid-19 work environments.
The project has been developed by three partners: Archilinea, an integrated architecture and interior design studio in Sassuolo; the architectural and engineering firm Binini Partners, with offices in Reggio Emilia and Milan, leader in integrated design in Italy and abroad, and specialized in hospital planning and design; and Sistem Costruzioni, a company located in Solignano (MO) which  designs and sells eco-friendly wooden houses.
 

“This building system – explains architect Giuseppe Gervasi, managing director of Archilinea – has been mainly designed to meet the most stringest health and safety regulations in industrial workplaces. Following a first successful solution, we have decided to industrialize the project and make it available for the whole community”.
After a first initial phase where the only participants were the companies trying to balance a re-opening with Covid restrictions, several public structures (hospital units to start with) have shown an interest in the potential benefits of such a building unit.
A first and maybe banal aspect is that what was hoped to be a temporary emergency turned into forced cohabitation, with a potentially strong impact on how social and entrepreneurial activities are going to be perceived for a long time to come. “We were taken by surprise – Gervasi highlights – and so far adopted solutions have necessarily had to be temporary solutions”. Such as tents, tensile structures, and other temporary modules set up outside hospitals and factories as temporary triage and test tents. “The uSafe Lab modules are stable, have high quality finishes and design, and are technologically conceived as hospital units”.
 

Five different versions are available. The basic module allows testing for 80 people an hour over a 40 sq m area.  Then there are the larger versions Medium, Plus, L and XL - the last one with the possibility to be set up with a drive through triage template. We are talking of small hospitals, of course. But with no longer the rigidity and limitations that had been so striking at the peak of the crisis.
“Let's think of the commitment and enormous effort carried out by doctors and nurses every day in our old hospitals, explains Tiziano Binini, president of Binini Partners, which, among others, has designed the new Galeazzi hospital in Area MIND in Milano. We need new advanced structures, with samples moving around, not people”.
Technically speaking, uSafe Lab's most significant feature lies in its being conceived by taking into consideration the same safety precautions in use in an operating room or an infectious disease hospital ward. First of all, both hospital workers (doctors and nurses) and visitors (employees, suppliers, clients) need to follow a one-way pathway, and only walk one direction. But mostly, it is an insulated structure where different rooms can be pressurized at different levels, so as to avoid contamination of rooms that need to be kept sterile and viceversa.
“The traditional air conditioning systems are based on recirculation mode. Adopting the operating room approach within the uSafe Lab module, Binini explains, the air gets filtered with absolute filters and goes back outside after having been treated. Staff gets into the changing rooms, wears personal protective equipment, and  leaves  the other way where the  equipment gets to be disposed of as biomedical waste ”.
It suffices to think of gathering groups created in hospitals waiting rooms to understand how interesting the solution could turn out to be also beyond the industrial environment. “Field experience has shown – Binini  concludes – that an effective response to an emergency situation doesn't entirely depend on staff training but also on how infrastructure has been designed”.
 

Hospitals, companies, but also sports and tourism. These are the key sectors according to the project's architectural managers, supposing our coexistence with Covid-19 is not going to last forever, but well enough to call for a more structured approach on the matter. This is particularly true considering that a single positive case in a factory could mean a production halt, further endangering turnovers and jobs. “We can't afford such a gloomy outlook”; it being understood that the uSafe Lab modules, once installed, may be suitable in the future for other destinations.
The project industrialization has been taken care of by Sistem Costruzioni, a benchmark in the sector since its building 1,600 housing modules in a few weeks after the earthquake in the Marches. “As to materials – managing director Emanuele Orsini explains– uSafe Lab has an external coating that can be either ceramic or aluminium. Then it has another insulating layer covering the structure itself, which is made of multilayer solid wood (CLT). The inside is built with insulated drywall and wall coating in order to facilitate daily disinfection and sanitation procedures”, to be be carried out through UV light or ozone gas when the premises are empty (possibly at night time).
Sustainability of wood and ceramic, along with a high level of product customization, is the last important aspect of this solution, which shouldn't cause any particular difficulty as far as licensing is concerned. “At the moment – says Orsini – a licence can be asked for temporary solutions. We hope to receive maximum cooperation and support from the local authorities during this phase, so as to speed preliminary procedures”. And as Sistem Costruzioni managing director reminds us, companies can ask for an up to €80,000 tax credit for the adaptation of working environments, as of art. 120 of Law Decree of 19 May 2020, the so-called Decreto Rilancio. Delivery for uSafe Lab modules is currently being guaranteed within 60 days.
 

uSafe Lab comes in five different versions: S, M, M+, L and XL, all differing in size and costs. Thanks to its modular structure, further customized functions or aesthetic features can be added.
From a technological point of view, uSafe Lab is designed according to guidelines for use in  operating rooms (one-way pathways, a different level of insulation-pressurization according to the use of the area, specific materials and wall coating for a simplified daily disinfection of the premises). As to permission and licensing, according to legislation currently in force, uSafe Lab can be set up by opening a CILA (start of construction work communication), which can be further extended after a 3 year period.