Folding Refugee Shelter

Every year, many individuals and families are forced to flee their homes and seek refuge. They are often forced to leave everything behind due to war, violence, persecution, and other dangers in their lives. More often, refugees are not prepared for the migration towards a safer place, meaning they can face the shortage of food, water, and a roof over their heads. With my Folding Refugee Shelter, I aim to provide a safe and easy-to-install shelter for the refugees lacking the capabilities of providing a home for themselves in times of crisis. After watching a number of documentaries, highlighting the lives of past and current struggling refugees, I wanted to create a model shelter that, when scaled up, can work as a real shelter. The main goal I set out to achieve was to design and build a functional and foldable refugee shelter that has the potential to work in the real world.

Although I only managed to create a 3D model and a scaled physical, functional model, many supplies and equipment were still used.

1. Paper and writing utensils for brainstorming
2. Autodesk Fusion 360 for 3D modeling
3. Blender for enhanced rendering
4. Basic 3D printer and filament for physical model

From the start, I knew I wanted to make a refugee shelter that actually folds up for easier transport and fold out during use. The first challenge I faced was knowing what shape of shelter to design and what needed to be included that refugees required. I decided to make a chart to clearly differentiate useful designs from unnecessary ones. Finally, it was obvious that I needed to include double-decker beds to maximize the space used and be able to provide more beds for more refugees. I also decided that a simple table with drawers was useful for storage. I also decided to include a first-aid kit in cases of emergencies. Even though providing water and food would also make sense, I decided that the helping refugee organization would provide them to keep the supply of food fresh and to also address food allergies. I thought of many different designs for the shelter itself, exploring domes, boxes, and ever hexagons, but I ultimately decided to go with a three-box design and arranged them in an L-shape. The L-shape allowed for more space than just a single box and was also chosen by my peers for its interesting design. While more unique and more practical, the L-shape design proved to be a massive challenge to fold up that will be explained extensively later. The next step was moving on to prototyping with the base ideas figured out.

Prototyping ultimately became one of the easiest parts, as I only needed to write and draw my ideas for the shelter. As shown in the photo above and the final model, the design stayed the same. I decided to split the L-shaped shelter into three cubes, each condensing into itself before the three cubes folded onto each other. The final product would have to turn from a shelter into layers of walls folded on each other.

Although I had no prior experience designing a folding cube, the first cube was surprisingly the easiest cube to design, while the second cube, connecting the first and the third one, easily became the source of my headaches. The first cube became a basis for the design that the next two cubes eventually followed.

Design process:

1. Started by sketching a 3 in × 3 in square
2. Extruded the square by 0.1 in to create the base
3. Sketched two 0.2 in circles on the side of the base
4. Extruded those circles to form cylinders
5. Sketched two smaller 0.15 in circles on the cylinders
6. Extruded‑cut those to create the joint holes
7. Sketched two 0.14 in circles to form the rotating components
8. Extruded small rectangles to connect to those components
9. Used Joints to attach the 0.14 in cylinders into the 0.15 in holes
10. Added two more circles on the opposite ends of the components and extruded them
11. Cut out matching 0.15 in holes for the next set of joints
12. Copied and pasted the components, then used Joints to connect the new pieces
13. With that, the side walls were complete
14. Copied the base, flipped it, and jointed it on top to form the roof
15. Created another 3 in × 3 in square, extruded it, and made the front wall
16. Added a joint hole so the front wall could flip upward
17. Cut out a rectangle in the front wall for the door opening
18. Used Offset to sketch a smaller rectangle for the door track
19. Extruded the offset shape to carve out the sliding door channel
20. Extruded a simple rectangular door and added a Joint so it could slide open and closed
21. Finally, extruded rectangles with rounded edges to create windows on both sides

We have arrived at the most challenging part, designing the second cube. The challenging part of this cube was that unlike the other two cubes, the side walls have the joint at a 45-degreed angle. It took 3 tries to get the angle correct and the joints working at the correct angle.

Design process:

1. Started with a 3 in × 3 in square and extruded it to form the base
2. Added the same joint holes as Cube 1 on both sides
3. Added an additional perpendicular joint hole to allow diagonal folding
4. Created another 3 in square and added a joint tab so it could fit into the base hole
5. Cut the square diagonally to form a right triangle
6. Extruded a small box on the hypotenuse surface
7. Added a joint hole on the box, then deleted the box so the hole remained at a 45‑degree angle on the triangular wall
8. Copied the triangle, flipped it, and extruded the joint hole outward to form a rod
9. Scaled the rod down to 0.14 in so it would fit into the 0.15 in joint hole
10. Used Joints to connect the two triangular walls, forming a larger wall that folds diagonally
11. Copied the triangular wall assembly and jointed it into the parallel hole to create the opposite corner wall
12. Created another 3 in × 3 in square, extruded it, and added two joint areas on its parallel sides
13. Jointed one end of this square to one of the angled walls, letting the other side rest on the perpendicular wall for support
14. Finally, jointed the base of Cube 2 to the base of Cube 1, completing the connection between the first two cubes

The last step was another easy one, as I only needed to copy and paste the first cube, flip it and attach it to the joint hole on the roof of the second cube. Although this seemed like the easiest step, I had to modify some of the walls to properly fit and close the gaps.

Design process:

1. Started by copying and pasting all the components from the first cube
2. Used Joints to reconnect the pieces and rebuild the structure as the third cube
3. Removed the original door and extruded the opening to turn it into a solid wall
4. Filled in one of the window openings using Extrude to create another solid wall for added privacy
5. Used Joints to attach the third cube to the roof joint of the second cube
6. Extruded part of the front wall and cut away a section to create a seamless connection between the cubes
7. With the exterior complete, the cube itself was finished — though the interior still needed additional work later on

Designing the beds was another straightforward step. From the brainstorming phase, I went with a double-decker design to fully use the space inside the shelter. I made the top and bottom beds different colors to add more life to the shelter itself.

Design process:

1. Started by sketching four squares and extruding them to form the bed legs
2. Sketched a rectangle across the four legs and extruded it to create the lower bed surface and frame
3. Extended the legs upward to provide support for the top bunk
4. Sketched and extruded another rectangle to form the top bed’s surface and frame
5. Used Fillet to round the edges of the frame for both appearance and safety
6. Created a rounded‑edge rectangle, raised it, and used Fillet again to shape it into a comfortable mattress
7. Added a smaller rounded rectangle, extruded it, and shaped it into the pillow
8. Rounded the edges further and jointed the mattress and pillow onto the lower bed surface
9. Copied the entire mattress‑and‑pillow assembly and jointed it onto the top bunk
10. Added two cylinders to the side of the top frame to begin the ladder
11. Used Sweep to guide the cylinders downward, forming the ladder rails
12. Sketched small rectangles on the rails, used Pattern to duplicate them into evenly spaced steps, and extruded them
13. Applied materials and colors: dark wood for the frame, yellow and blue for the mattresses, white for the pillows, and aluminum for the ladder
14. Finally, placed three double‑decker beds inside the shelter

Creating a desk with drawers made too much sense not to include in the shelter. The desk was an easy step, as I had designed one before for my Mobile Science Lab Truck. I also included a first-aid kit.

Design process:

1. Started by extruding a rectangle to form the main body of the desk
2. Used Fillet to round the edges for a cleaner look and improved safety
3. Extruded box‑shaped cutouts into the desk to create drawer openings
4. Filled those openings with new box components to form the drawers
5. Carved out additional boxes inside the drawers to create internal storage space
6. Added simple drawer handles and rounded their edges
7. Used Joints to position the drawers and allow them to slide in and out
8. Extruded another rectangle to create the first‑aid kit body
9. Rounded the edges and extruded a simple plus symbol on the front
10. Applied materials and colors: dark wood for the desk, aluminum for the drawers, and a white‑and‑red color scheme for the first‑aid kit
11. Finally, placed the completed table in the corner of the shelter

Although the model itself was done, I wanted to add support legs on the bottom to raise the shelter off the ground. Finally, I proceeded to render the final shelter using Blender. I changed some of the colors in the render for a cleaner and more cohesive look.

3D printing was definitely the most tedious part of the entire project. Since my 3D printer is old, I had to reprint the second cube three times and the door twice just to get the parts to work correctly. The main issue was the filament constantly getting stuck in the nozzle. When the printer resumed, the next layer would shift slightly off‑center, which caused the joints to fail and left the walls with messy, uneven lines.

Fortunately, after an entire day of printing, I finally got everything to work, even though the door area still looks a little rough. The important thing was seeing the shelter actually hold itself up and fold the way it was supposed to. The beauty of this design is that with a better and larger printer, the parts could be scaled up and used to create a life‑size foldable refugee shelter.

The beds and table have to be removed when folding the model, since there was no realistic way to make them disappear into the walls. Even so, I’m very happy with how the 3D‑printed version turned out. It proved that my design is functional and has a real purpose.

Overall, this project took about a month to complete. It was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever designed and printed. I even had to take a week‑long break while working on the second cube because figuring out the folding mechanism and the exact angles pushed both my imagination and my geometry skills to their limits. I also added a 3D view of the shelter if you want to explore the design.

From the start of this project to the end, I’ve improved a lot. I learned how to create joints, how to fit them correctly, and how many different ways a cube can actually fold. But most importantly, I realized that my designs have grown beyond fictional cars and trucks. They have now become functional, realistic shelters that could one day make a real difference in the world.