Plans for African “Droneport” unveiled
Architecture and design practice Foster + Partners have announced the launch of a new “Droneport” project in Africa. The project, which is a collaboration between Redline partners led by Afrotech, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Norman Foster Foundation, and Foster + Partners, aims to create “cargo drone routes capable of delivering urgent and precious supplies to remote areas on a massive scale”.
In a statement posted on the Foster + Partners website on 16 September, the renowned architect Lord Foster said: “The specialist drones can carry blood and life-saving supplies over 100 kilometres at minimal cost, providing an affordable alternative that can complement road-based deliveries.
“Two parallel networks would operate services, the Redline using smaller drones for medical and emergency supplies; and the commercial Blueline that would transport crucial larger payloads such as spare parts, electronics, and e-commerce, complementing and subsidising the Redline network.”
The project is an evolution of Foster + Partners’ previous experience in building airports, as well as earlier lunar building studies conducted in association with the European Space Agency.
Lord Foster added: “The pilot project – slated to begin in 2016 – is based in Rwanda, a country whose physical and social geography poses multiple challenges for prototyping the future of the projected Redline trans-continental network.
“This initial plan for three buildings, to be completed by 2020, will enable the network to send supplies to 44 per cent of Rwanda. Subsequent phases of the project could see in excess of 40 Droneports across Rwanda, and the country’s central location could allow easier expansion to neighbouring countries such as Congo, saving many thousands more lives.”
Foster+Partners said that the project will initially deploy 3-metre wingspan drones, capable of carrying a payload of 10kg. By 2025, however, the company anticipates that there will be drones with a 6-metre wingspan, capable of carrying payloads of 100kg.
