The RESPAND Building System
Hurricane-engineered buildings from a catalogue of parts. Shipped flat. Built on a grid.
RESPAND is a hurricane-engineered building that ships flat in standard containers and assembles on a fixed 8 ft grid, with the layout freedom of a site-built project.
Why a building system
Building on an island is slow and expensive.
Every block, bag and tradesperson must come by boat. Skilled labour is short, local material prices jump, and a long build leaves a part-built structure open through hurricane season. RESPAND replaces that with a kit.
Not a box. Not a one-off. A building system.
Flat-pack units are fixed sizes. Custom panel kits are engineered again for every project. RESPAND combines the repeatable product of a flat-pack unit with the layout freedom of a custom kit: standard parts, many layouts, one design basis.
Five pillars
What every RESPAND building gets.
Engineered for hurricanes
Designed for Caribbean wind from the first part: 180–200 mph to the Bahamas Building Code and ASCE 7-22, strap bracing on both faces and steel hold-downs. Concept design; Engineer of Record verification in progress.
Ships as cargo
Parts ship on edge in standard 40 ft high cube containers. No oversize loads, no special vessels, no shipped air.
One grid, many buildings
Clinics, homes, staff housing and hotels from the same parts, in 4 ft steps, with clear spans of 16 ft and 24 ft.
Less skilled labour on site
Floors and walls arrive as finished parts with repeat connections. Site work is assembly, not construction.
Known parts, known quantities
A take-off by part from the catalogue before the order, not an estimate from drawings.
One grid
Three part sizes. Many buildings.
Floors and walls are factory-made light-gauge steel cassettes in three plan sizes. Every wall falls on the grid, so rooms come in 4 ft steps and no part is cut on site.
8' × 8'
64 SF · The main bay
Forms the body of every room and of the corridor.
4' × 8'
32 SF · The strip
Completes 12' room widths and forms 4'-deep stores, anterooms and alcoves.
4' × 4'
16 SF · The corner
Closes the corner where two 4' strips meet, so a 12' × 12' room needs no cut frame.
- 8' × 8'
- 4' × 8'
- 4' × 4'
Example: RESPAND Health pods, 12' × 32', joined so the corridor runs straight through.
A catalogue of parts
Complete rooms, not only a shell.
Each building is a take-off by part from one catalogue: known parts, known quantities, before the order is placed.
Floor and ceiling cassettes
152 mm (6 in) deep light-gauge steel, in 8' × 8', 4' × 8' and 4' × 4' sizes, with a whole 4 × 8 MgO deck. The same part makes the floor and the ceiling.
Wall cassettes
176 mm (7 in) exterior walls: steel studs, mineral wool and 12 mm MgO board on both faces. Posts and bracing are built into the cassettes.
Long-span girders
Galvanized steel girders for open rooms with clear spans of 16 ft and 24 ft: lobbies, wards, living rooms.
Wet-area panel
A tiled wet-area floor that finishes flush with the next room, for bathrooms, kitchens and clinical wet rooms.
Deck and porch panel
Decks, porches and covered walkways on the same grid, with a heavier corrosion coating.
Opening library
A priced set of windows and doors, including a 4-panel slider kit 134 in. wide.
Faster by design
Designed once in 3D. Made in a factory. Ordered, shipped and built in parallel.
A traditional project moves in a line: design, then materials, then each trade after the one before. RESPAND starts from a 3D model of catalogue parts. When the layout is frozen, the model is the building, and four streams of work run at the same time.
Approvals
The Engineer of Record and the authorities review a system they have seen before, not a new structure.
Factory production
The factory makes the floor and wall parts directly from the model.
Procurement
Windows, doors, girders and hardware are ordered from the model's bill of parts on day one, long-lead items first.
Site and shipping
The site crew builds foundations while containers are loaded and shipped. When they arrive, the site work is assembly.
How RESPAND reduces the risks of traditional construction
Quality
Traditional
Quality depends on the skill of each tradesperson on each day. Defects appear late, when they are expensive to correct.
RESPAND
Parts are made in factory conditions to the model. Clashes are found in 3D before fabrication. The same connection repeats at each node.
Cost
Traditional
Quantities are estimated from drawings. Waste, rework, change orders and price increases during a long build add cost.
RESPAND
The model gives an exact bill of parts. Early ordering fixes prices. Whole sheets with no cutting reduce waste.
Time
Traditional
Trades work in sequence. Weather, missing materials and rework stop the job.
RESPAND
Approvals, production, procurement and site work run in parallel. Dry assembly needs fewer trades and less good weather.
Hurricane and climate
Traditional
A long build leaves a part-built structure open through hurricane season. Final performance depends on site workmanship.
RESPAND
Designed to ASCE 7-22 for 180–200 mph wind (concept design; engineer of record verification in progress). A short assembly period reduces exposure. Galvanized steel and MgO resist rot, termites and humidity.
Logistics
Traditional
Many suppliers and many separate shipments. One late or missing item stops the site.
RESPAND
One model produces the bill of parts and the container load plan. The building arrives as one coordinated shipment.
Speed is stated qualitatively until a timed pilot build is complete. A damaged part has a part number and can be reordered and replaced after a storm.
One system, two delivery modes
Shipped flat. Or finished in the factory.
Flat-packed
StandardFloor and wall parts ship on edge in standard 40 ft high cube containers and bolt together on piers. Every RESPAND segment ships this way.
- Standard containers to any port with container or barge service
- No oversize loads or special vessels
- Whole 4 × 8 sheets, no cutting
Finished volumetric pods
Option for clinicsClinic pods can also be finished in the factory and shipped as complete rooms by ocean freight, barge or road, then lifted onto foundations.
- Structure, finishes and systems completed indoors
- Specified systems tested before shipment
- Less work at the destination
Three markets
The same parts. Fitted out for each market.
Specifications
Building System summary
| System | Light-gauge steel and MgO floor and wall cassettes, factory made, bolted on site |
|---|---|
| Planning grid | 8' × 8' with 4' × 8' and 4' × 4' parts; rooms in 4' steps |
| Floor and ceiling | 152 mm (6 in) cassettes with a 16 mm MgO deck on whole 4 × 8 sheets |
| Exterior walls | 176 mm (7 in): steel studs, mineral wool, 12 mm MgO board on both faces; 9 ft wall height |
| Clear spans | 16 ft and 24 ft with the long-span girder kit |
| Floor loads | Residential and hospitality floor loads |
| Shipping | On edge in standard 40 ft high cube containers |
| Design wind speed | 180–200 mph, to the Bahamas Building Code and ASCE 7-22. Concept design; Engineer of Record verification in progress; wind speed confirmed for each island |
| Storeys | Single storey first; 2 and 3 storeys planned |
| Delivery | Flat-packed; clinic pods also as finished volumetric pods |
| Materials | Galvanized steel and sulfate MgO board: no rot, no termite food |
| Catalogue options | Wet-area panel, deck and porch panel, opening library with a 4-panel slider kit |
| Standards | Final design confirmed against the building code of each jurisdiction |
Designed to the Bahamas Building Code and ASCE 7-22 (Exposure D) for 180 to 200 mph wind. Concept design; Engineer of Record verification in progress. The design wind speed is confirmed for each island. The RESPAND Building System is at concept stage. Clinical specifications (medical gases and clinical interiors) are on the RESPAND Health clinical platform page.