Huo-Yan Air Laboratory—Inflatable Membrane Structure Negative Pressure Virus Detection Station

In April 2020, College of Design and Innovation of Tongji University and the team from Etopia worked with BGI and successfully developed an inflatable membrane structure virus detection laboratory for the nucleic acid detection of pathogenic microorganisms including the COVID-19. The design of “Huo-Yan” Air Laboratory is inspired by the isomorphic relationship between “genes–cells–human” and “human–architecture–urban life beings”. It is like a kind of “life-like architecture” with a sense of beauty, the sense of future and technology. It shows advantages in national production, low energy consumption, intelligence, convenient storage, and supportive air transportation. During the rapid spread of the virus, the membrane structure laboratory can achieve rapid mass production, low cost, convenient transportation, simple installation, and convenient storage, which greatly reduces the energy consumption in contrast with traditional buildings. The intelligent cabin pressure control system of the fresh air system realizes the positive and negative pressure conversion of each function zone to meet the requirements of the air environment standard. The light interaction technology is equipped in the laboratory to realize the contactless operation of medical staffs. In the future, the laboratory can be converted into a concrete shell structure and turn into a permanent building by spraying composite materials. “Huo-Yan” Air Laboratory have been applied in Beijing, Harbin, Hong Kong in China, and overseas regions including Libreville, Gabon; Medina, Saudi; Lome, Togo; Kazakhstan; and Oman, which have significantly improved the local nucleic acid detection capability, thereby assisting the global epidemic prevention and control.