Modern School Infrastructure Design Competition Addresses Hurricane Shelter Needs, Emphasizes Disaster Preparedness

A renovation design challenge launched in March to give schools a modern facelift could also address the need for more hurricane shelters, according to Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw.

“Every year we have to make sure that we have enough category one and two shelters for persons who may need to evacuate their homes even before a hazard… and I know that with the design competition and with the building of these climate-resilient structures, that number can increase significantly,” she said at a workshop for evaluators of the design submissions for the Modern School Infrastructure Design Competition.

This year, the country has 33 designated shelter locations compared to 30 last year.

Daniel Best, Senior Advisor on Infrastructure to the Prime Minister’s Office, emphasised that disaster preparedness is a key factor in constructing the new school buildings.

“Our schools should be able to function as safe havens… need to be that place that persons can retreat to in a safe environment,” he said.

Best noted incorporating early warning systems, real-time alerts, and proactive monitoring for potential threats.

“We are all pleased with the role the Met Office is playing in advising us of any updates, so incorporating that and other early warning systems using the technology to monitor and provide real-time alerts within the school plant and across the school system is something we should consider as part of the disaster preparedness process. This is all incorporated with how we treat our infrastructure and being proactive in addressing potential threats,” he said.

The Modern School Infrastructure Design Competition invites registered architects in Barbados to submit designs for nursery, primary, secondary, and special needs schools.

But with the competition deadline approaching in under two weeks, Programme Director at the Ministry of Education Paul Murphy revealed no submissions have been received as yet. However, he expressed confidence that applications will come in soon.

Giving the reassurance that the delay in submissions is not for a lack of information on the project, he said: “The competition is being done through the Barbados Association of Architects and we have been working very closely with them to ensure that their membership is aware. We have [also] had a significant amount of queries, not necessarily because of any flaws with the design brief but because people wanted more information as this is new.”