Senior environmental design students at Texas A & M University will show design proposals for a new public hospital in Roatan, Honduras, according to an article on The Batt website.
Healthcare on the island faces several challenges not typically found in the U.S., including heat, humidity and rain.
Global Healing, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to high-quality health care in developing countries, provided funds to the A&M students to help them get started on design projects.
Designs included terracotta roofing was used to incorporate the Hispanic architecture of the surrounding area. The building is mostly concrete to lower the temperature, and a pathway to allow breezes in was designed to keep ventilating the building during the area’s frequent power outages.
Most of the student designs also included local materials for construction, slanted roofs to deal with torrential rainfall and space for emergency generators.