Egyptian design duo create portable clinic from shipping containers

CAIRO | Matt Smith

The pair have now turned their talents to creating a portable medical centre that can be transported anywhere and rapidly deployed in urban and rural locations where access to conventional healthcare services is difficult and doctors are hard to find.

With the coronavirus pandemic far from over, Q-MED could prove to be a lifesaver, as explained by Youssef Farag, co-founder of Cairo’s Qubix.

“Patients will have access to professional and high-quality healthcare (from) healthcare providers who take the opportunity to dive into new and underserved markets and demographics for a relatively low initial investment on their part,” says Farag, who is also Qubix’s chief operating officer.

Expanding Egypt’s medical services is of vital importance: the country languishes at number 63 in the World Health Organisation’s global rankings despite considerable achievements in reducing infant mortality and increasing state healthcare spending.

Qubix is in talks with healthcare institutions and medical equipment suppliers to deploy Q-MED facilities in Egypt.

“Q-MED is a fully furnished, turn-key space already packed and set up with the medical equipment needed, to provide any medical service - from dentistry to general practitioners,” says Farag, 28.

He and fellow Qubix co-founder, Karim Rafla, 27, have been best friends since they were infants. After graduating from university, the duo worked in their respective family businesses before deciding to launch their own company in 2016. Inspired by the shipping container buildings that Rafla had seen while a student in London, the pair arranged for one to be shipped to Farag’s backyard.

“We had no engineering background at that point and literally had no idea what we were doing,” Farag shares.

Yet, he and Rafla proved fast learners – in the space of four years, the company has gone from being an idle idea to delivering over 200 shipping container projects, employing a team of designers, engineers, salespeople and skilled workers.

“The one thing Karim and I always had in common was that from a very young age, we always craved uninhibited freedom and independence,” says Farag. “We always knew that we wanted to do something of our own; we were adamant that we did not see ourselves working 9-to-5 jobs.”

STRUCTURES TO MEET EVERY NEED

Qubix can build virtually any kind of building a client requests, but the most in-demand projects are food and beverage outlets, as well as retail premises and offices of varying sizes.

The company has delivered units all over Egypt although sales are concentrated in Cairo and the north of the country. Qubix has also received orders from North America and the wider Middle East.

Shipping containers “allow us to build better, faster and in a more cost- and time-efficient manner than traditional methods,” explains Farag.

He believes these advantages would make the units, which can be joined together modular-style, an ideal structure for residential homes, providing an affordable solution to Egypt’s chronic housing shortage. According to World Bank estimates, the country needs at least 3 million more affordable homes.

“We allow our imaginations to drive our ambitions, so our vision of expansion is quite daring. We are expanding our product lines, our geographical reach, our production and our strategic partnerships domestically and abroad,” Farag adds.

“I really love that in Qubix, creativity and problem solving come first, then comes the beautiful orchestra of operations designed and aligned to make sure these creations see the light of day and actually change the way people do things.”

“Our innovative solutions help people to either live better or work better, and that’s the identity we want the Qubix brand to be synonymous with.”