Jury Citation
The driving ethos of the designers behind weatherHYDE is to end homelessness. Their design is a systems-based solution aimed at making a sizeable dent in this problem. It is a women-friendly, weather-proof, portable and easy-to-set-up shelter for homeless families.
The designers approached their project with a bold, refreshing principle: “Never design poorly for the poor.” The product’s multiple innovations are found in numerous thoughtful details. Inspired by reversible jackets, the tent similarly has a reversible skin for summer and winter use. A new layered stitching method was developed to ensure that the tent remained watertight under extreme weather conditions. An opaque skin protects the privacy of women and children when the tent is lit from within. Even its frame is flexible enough to be constructed out of readily-found materials like pipes or can be 3D-printed. WeatherHYDE is indeed designed with an unwavering focus on its target end-users, whose needs the designers studied through months of interacting with the homeless and volunteering on humanitarian missions in disaster zones.
What further impresses the Jury is the company’s innovative business model, which empowers their users as customers, not beneficiaries. Flexible payment terms allow users to purchase their own tents—homes, in actuality—instead of having to wait for aid. WeatherHYDE is proof that projects with great social equity can improve lives whilst creating value for its users and designers.
VIEW JURORS
Nominator Citation
Hari Krishnan
Chief Executive Officer
PropertyGuru
Billion Bricks and Prasoon came to my attention in 2015. I strongly resonated with their vision to eradicate homelessness, having grown up in India and seen a number of my countrymen and women struggle to get a roof above their heads.
Having spent time getting to know Prasoon, I saw the story was even better than that. A highly qualified architect and urban planner, he had stepped away from a highly paid job to apply his craft on a worthy cause. Plus, he had done so in the prime years of his career, not after he had made his millions. The sincerity in his eyes and words was unmistakable and his next words made it clear that I wanted to help his organisation succeed. He asked me why someone who is poorer should have a “poorly constructed and designed” house? Why indeed?
Prasoon has a few key elements which any good business leader must have: discipline, a sense of purpose and patience. Having the technical skills to do something about the area he has targeted—putting people into homes and giving them shelter—makes him the ideal leader of Billion Bricks. His solutions focusing on disaster relief (weatherHYDE) and rural self-funding housing (the very exciting powerHYDE) show he is able to connect his purpose with his knowledge.
Having been working with Prasoon a little closer over the last year or so, I have seen some admirable personal qualities which some profess, but he displays: honesty, humility and quiet strength. These are all key in the tough not-for-profit sector and have made him more successful than most.
Billion Bricks is focused on Southeast Asia and India today, but just as easily could impact other parts of the world. Their products are wonderfully portable; as is their thinking.