The Key to Quality
MDM Architects: Leaders in Infrastructure Development
Bangladesh’s inhabitants
Bangladesh has a population of 164.7 million inhabitants, including more than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, according to 2018 government records. Also known as the “Forcibly Replaced Displaced Myanmar Nationals” (or FDMN), these refugees arrive at Bangladesh having fled the violence and persecution suffered in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar.
The upsurge of people at the Rohingya refugee camps, such as that at Cox’s Bazar, has placed a strain on limited services, including education, food, clean water and sanitation.
Climatic issues affecting Bangladesh
Bangladesh is bounded by several rivers, including the Brahmaputra, Padma, Meghna, Surma rivers. Surrounded by so much water makes the country susceptible to flooding, particularly during the monsoon season between May and October.
The high number of patients with pollution-related diseases puts a strain on Bangladesh’s limited resources, including doctors and medicines.
MDM Architects: leaders in sustainable design
In response to the growing needs of Bangladeshi inhabitants, its government set up the Ashrayam-3 project to develop sustainable livelihoods and incomes for the FDMN refugees. The government contracted Bangladesh Navy and they appointed MDM Architects as an onshore works consultant to develop sustainable and eco-friendly infrastructure on the island of Bhasan Char, home to thousands of refugees.
Mukta Dinwiddie MacLaren Architects (known as MDM Architects) is an architecture and engineering company based in Dhaka led by Ahmed Mukta. MDM is a leader in construction technology in the Indian sub-continent. It had pioneered building projects for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Médecins Sans Frontières, Shell and HSBC, among others.
MDM’s Coastal Crisis Management Centres
BID Group highlights extraordinary examples of excellence decompensated by companies and organisations in commercial and philanthropic practices. Both are reflected in MDM’s work in designing and constructing a number of Coastal Crisis Management Centres (CCMCs) across Bangladesh. Together with the United States Pacific command (USPACOM), MDM had set up 26 CCMCs areas of Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Dhaka.
A Coastal Crisis Management Centre is a multipurpose cyclone shelter that serves both as a shelter for local civilians, as well as a command and control centre from the Bangladesh Coast Guard, needed to respond to emergencies.
MDM Architects provided a cutting-edge design for the construction of CCMCs in a way that responds to the climatic problems typically found in Bangladesh. Here are some of the architectural features of its CCMCs that stands MDM out at a pioneer in infrastructure development:
- Two stories – for enhances protection from rain and rising sea levels
- Vehicle storage area – to protect vehicles and keep them fully functioning and in their optimal state when needed.
- High ground floor level – above the annual flood levels to protect the CCMCs structure during flood surges.
- First floor emergency facilities – such as offices, storage rooms, control room, kitchenette and toilets.
- Balusters – that break the solid walls, characterised by vertical openings, used to keep cattle tied on the ground floor.
- Reinforced concrete structure and pile foundations – designed to withstand 8.0 Richter-scale earthquakes and 260 km/hr wind speeds.
- Rainwater harvesting and filtering purification systems – to combat diseases spread by water pollution.
Other infrastructure by MDM Architects
MDM’s excellence in sustainable and eco-friendly architectural design doesn’t stop at its CCMCs. The leading Dakar-based architecture company took on the responsibility of planning a wider set of infrastructure at Bhasan Char under the Ashrayan-3 Project set up by the Prime Minister’s Office of Bangladesh. These included the following projects:
- 1,440 cluster houses and accommodation
- 120 cyclone shelters
- 2 hospitals & 4 clinics
- 4 warehouses for relief storage
- Fire station & Police station
- Road and drainage networks
- Helipads
- Diesel, solar power and biogas plants
- Lighthouse
MDM Architects to receive Arch of Europe Award
MDM Architects is at the epicentre of sustainability in the design and construction sector. MDM’s team of experts have worked together so that the population of Bangladesh, including its displaced FDMN refugees, can enjoy a better quality of life. Their technical design of 26 Coastal Crisis Management Centres across Bangladesh provides safety and comfort to inhabitants and workers, even when confronted with the most trying of climatic conditions.
At Bid Group we commend the excellence in quality provided by MDM Architects and we are proud to award this pioneering company with the Arch of Europe Award 2020.
ABOUT THE ARCH OF EUROPE AWARD
The 34th International Award in Excellence and Quality is part of BID’s Quality and Leadership Recognition Program, created to promote the core principles of Quality Culture. This program is aimed at providing companies with the marketing and technical tools to increase productivity, reduce waste and boost profitability.
The International Award in Excellence and Quality Award is a key element of this international convention, becoming a powerful marketing tool designed to recognize the prestige of outstanding companies, organizations, and business people from all over the world. This year the IAEQ Awards will be presented during the Gala Dinner Ceremony, as part of the International Award in Excellence and Quality, held at the InterContinental Hotel Convention Center.
Moreover, during the Convention, the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), alongside BID will hold a seminar entitled Inspiring Success: Keys to Quality Culture. The seminar will be directed by the UPM Professor, Dr. Alfonso C. Casal (PhD) who leads the Partnership between University and Industry alliance, created by BID and the UPM.