CURA turns shipping containers into emergency COVID-19 hospitals

to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic, a new initiative is turning shipping containers into plug-in intensive-care pods. named CURA (connected units for respiratory ailments), the first structure is currently being built in the italian city of milan. according to the team behind the project, which includes carlo ratti, the units could be as fast to mount as a hospital tent, but as safe as an isolation ward, thanks to biocontainment with negative pressure.

all images and video courtesy of squint/opera

amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an international task force of designers, engineers, medical professionals, and military experts have joined forces to work on CURA, an open-source project aimed at building intensive-care units (ICU). the scheme uses repurposed shipping containers to create plug-in biocontainment pods that can be quickly deployed in cities around the world, promptly responding to the shortage of ICU space in hospitals.

CURA is a compact intensive-care pod for patients with respiratory infections, hosted in a 20-foot intermodal container with biocontainment (thanks to negative pressure). each unit works autonomously and can be shipped anywhere. individual pods are connected by an inflatable structure to create multiple modular configurations (from 4 beds to over 40), which can be deployed in just a few hours. some pods can be placed in proximity to a hospital (e.g. in parking lots) to expand the ICU capacity, while others could be used to create self-standing field hospitals of varying sizes.

CURA aims to improve the efficiency of existing solutions in the design of field hospitals, tailoring them to the current pandemic. in the last weeks, hospitals in the countries most affected by COVID-19 have been struggling to increase their ICU capacity to admit the growing number of patients with severe respiratory diseases. the team notes that however the pandemic evolves, more ICUs will be needed internationally in the next few months.

CURA strives to be as fast to mount as a hospital tent, but as safe as a hospital’s isolation ward to work in, thanks to biocontainment (an extractor creates indoor negative pressure, complying with the standards of airborne infection isolation rooms AIIRs). the design follows the standards for COVID-19 hospitals issued by the chinese authorities, while speeding up execution.

as shipping containers can easily be moved through different modes of transport and re-used in different parts of the world, CURA pods are being conceived as a ready-to-use solution. each pod would contain all the medical equipment needed for two COVID-19 intensive-care patients — including ventilators and intravenous fluids stands. furthermore, units can be connected by an inflatable corridor.

CURA is developed in an open-source, non-for-profit framework and solicits suggestions and improvements via its website. the first CURA pod is currently being built for test at a hospital in milan, italy.

project info:

name: CURA-connected units for respiratory ailments
the first prototype of CURA, to be developed in milan, italy, is sponsored by unicredit

list of people and organizations who have contributed thus far to CURA (in chronological order):
CRA-carlo ratti associati with italo rota (design and innovation), humanitas research hospital (medical engineering), policlinico di milano (medical consultancy), jacobs (alberto riva – master planning, design, construction and logistics support services), studio FM milano (visual identity & graphic design), squint/opera (digital media), alex neame of team rubicon UK (logistics), ivan pavanello of projema (MEP engineering), dr. maurizio lanfranco of ospedale cottolengo (medical consultancy)