A Designer's Digest: The Design of Transitional Housing for Homeless Recovery.
- Lucy Taylor
- Mar 10, 2021
- 8 min read
In part of my efforts to better understand the relationship between Interior Architecture and Design and the social, environmental and economic issues across our globe, I have taken to exploring previous, current and potential areas of address. This section of my blog, 'A Designer's Digest', will be used to translate my research and understanding into an informative and approachable reference, that may help you better understand the vast ways in which design truly does make a difference.
Designers around the world are increasingly identifying the ways in which the characteristics of our built environment can be used to support groups of minority and disadvantage. Currently, there seems to be a lack of significant data that can help us form solid design strategies that successfully meet the needs of supportive environments for such groups. As a result and in despite of sincere attempts from the design community to fight these challenges, the Interior Architecture and Design of transitional institutions such as homeless shelters and temporary housing, is often miscalculated and based upon generic assumptions about the needs of the vulnerable (McLane and Pable, 2020).
NEEDS OF THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY
The needs of people within the homeless community cannot be narrowly categorised and are often inclusive of, but not limited to physical recovery, emotional support and practical longevity. Each victim of homelessness faces a series of individual challenges with some needing more support than others. However, a common need of them all is access to a place to stay.
"Transitional Housing is a form of temporary residence of up to 24 months wit wrap-around services."
(Samsha.gov, 2021)
(Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2021)
There are a vast number of both public and private programs that provide transitional housing, all of which are underpinned by crucial funding. Some Central Government Funding Announcements for 2020/21 included (Local authority spending on homelessness, 2020):
Rough Sleeping Initiative fund: £112m announced for 2020/21
Homelessness Reduction Grant: £63m for 2020/21
Flexible Homelessness Support Grant: £200m for 2020/21
Fund for Jobcentre homelessness outreach: £30m
Public Health England Rough Sleeping Grant: £1.9m in 2019/20
NHS England specialist homelessness mental health services: £30m for 2019/20-2023/4.
Whilst figures from the WPI Economics' Local authority spending on homelessness (2020) publication show increased levels of funding for the transitional housing sector in particular, I'm sure we are all familiar with how far Government funding is already being stretched, thus it is imperative that these investments are as economic as possible.
Designers play a huge role in finding creative responses to challenges constrained by budget, and therefore we should be investing our time in a better understanding of the most appropriate design strategies and responses to the design of transitional housing for homeless recovery.
The needs of a homeless person must be at the centre of design solutions.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Throughout my BA studies, needs of the user and function of the space remained at the centre of my design responses. I found that by taking each project right back to where it started to figure out the exact desired outcome and the most important, uncompromisable factors, resulted in more creative and aligned final designs. What is the purpose of the space? Why is it needed/wanted?
Transitional housing purposes a stabilised environment that precedes the address of other issues such as mental health and drug/alcohol addiction. It is crucial that the design of these spaces considers the full process and potential associated risks and hazards of recovery.
Social Spaces
McLane and Pable (2020) propose that social assistance should be a key highlight of any design response, focused on creating a sense of community to enable the formation of productive and stable relationships. Although much more data is needed to form concrete guidance for the design of social spaces within transitional housing, we do know that key social spaces include gardens, kitchen areas and TV rooms, all commonly associated with relaxed activity and interactive task-focused behaviour.
McLane and Pable's study (2020) has provided us with quantitative data taken directly from residents of transitional housing in both Tallahassee, USA and Southampton, UK. Their findings noted resident's reinforcement of the importance of social spaces, claiming that these environments support positive mental mindsets and provide distraction from recurring thoughts and/or compulsive activities, often triggered by literal and perceived isolation.
Location
The location of spaces and subsequent way-finding requirements can have the potential to overwhelm some users. Someone with a physical disability or impairment may be put off by a long and/or challenging route to a secondary space, much like someone with mental health challenges may find that some way-finding routes trigger their anxieties. Careful consideration during the space planning process may help to produce a positive environment with easily accessible spaces.
Visibility and Size
Being able to make informed decisions about entering and leaving an environment can be affected by a person's ability to see in and out of a space. Viewpoints, window placement, low partitions and high back furniture could all be used to produce a sense of security and freedom in choice and movement. Successful designs should avoid causing users to feel trapped or uncertain about the purpose and activities of spaces, with discrete routes in and out.
Adjacencies
As previously mentioned, the recovery of each homeless person is completely unique to their previous and current medical, physical and social capabilities. Each person has their individual struggles, so what may be right for one person may be wrong for another. We need to find a happy medium that can cater for all, and where this may not be possible, a deeper exploration of specialist facilities, where transitional housing is aimed at specific types of generalised recovery needs.
[ABOVE - North London Homeless Shelter 'Shelter from the Storm' by Holland Harvey Architects. Photo credit: Nicholas Worley].
THE IMPORTANCE OF AESTHETICS
Interior Decoration is a popular route within Interior Design, from luxurious hotel lobbies to changing the paint colour in your downstairs toilet. It is something we all connect with and are influenced by both consciously and subconsciously. Just as we find the aesthetics of our homes to be important, the aesthetics of transitional housing also play a big part in creating a sense of stability and refuge.
The challenges of designing a transitional housing environment include finding a healthy balance between a safe institutional environment and domestic enrichment. Acoustics, lighting, cleanliness, safety/security and personalisation of space are just some factors to consider when selecting furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Spaces need to provide independence without isolation, using acoustics to support privacy and safety.
Natural lighting is usually better than artificial, almost always.
Actual vs. perceived cleanliness - spaces that look clean even if they may not be entirely help to retain a sense of dignity amongst residents.
All residents should feel safe, even when non-residents have access to the building. Separated communal spaces for those who do not feel comfortable around strangers may be a key consideration.
Room for personalisation may increase levels of emotional investment into recovery, although this must be balanced equally with the risk of theft and hazard.
Aesthetic qualities of property affect the perceptions of residents and have the potential to substantially aid recovery when carefully considered.
DESIGN STRATEGIES AND RESPONSES
Discrete Architecture
A progressive form of design, discrete design methods are a form of adaptable design strategy that enables the built environment to tackle the evolving needs of disciplines. In particular, we are talking about large scale structures composed of small, versatile elements that allow for modular transition (Claypool, 2021).
This sort of design strategy may be beneficial for a versatile environment much like transitional housing, where the needs of users may change from a day to day basis and where the suitability of their environments can largely contribute to successful and unsuccessful recovery.
Discrete architecture would allow the spaces within the container to become more modular and adaptable for a series of unique situations, such as increasing the size and visibility of a space.
[ABOVE - South London Homeless Housing 'George Williams Court' by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. A Y:cube modular scheme that can be disassembled and transported to it's most needed site. Photo credit: Grant Smith].
Trauma-informed Design
Trauma-informed care focuses on physical, psychological and emotional safety by "promoting personal empowerment, voice and choice" (McLane and Pable, 2020). For homelessness, trauma-informed care recognises that the effects of adversity in a person's life can significantly shape their perceptions and actions concerning their recovery.
A trauma-informed design response will be informed by the understanding of issues that residents may be experiencing. The time taken to consider the trauma of potential users would hopefully result in a more appropriate result by avoiding stressful environments that may interfere with a person's recovery.
Space Syntax Theory
"Space syntax is a theory of space and a set of analytical, quantitative and
descriptive tools for analysing the layout of space"
(Vaughn 2015)
Space syntax theory forms the basis of a strategic planning response that helps to generate a practical understanding of how a space is going to be used. It is a very functional approach, and for homeless transitional facilities, could result in a good compromise between form and function. This is necessary for a happy medium between safety, security, appeal and ownership.
Biological Responses
I think when approaching a stream of design that is based upon the wellbeing of users, it is unavoidable to tap in to the science behind human action, reaction and interaction. Throughout my research on this particular topic: The Design of Transitional Housing for Homeless Recovery, I found myself drawn to key three biological responses that I believe should form the foundations of any design response.
Thigmotaxis
- the concern of the human tendancy to stay close to walls when exploring open space.
How can we create designs that respond to thigmotaxis and support a reduction in anxiety amongst users during way-finding tasks?
Prospect and Refuge
- the human preference to have the ability to observe in a safe, enclosed space, without being seen.
The privacy of users is to remain a priority, influencing the presence of exit strategies and expanded space standards.
Biophilia
- the need to seek connections with other humans, living beings and nature.
How do we encourage opportunities for social interaction through our designs? The design of social spaces is one of the most important tasks within transitional housing projects.
"There is great social, economic and political consequence to how we design, fabricate and assemble buildings".
(Claypool, 2021)
We call it considerate design, whereby Designers are encouraged to take a step back from the adrenaline-fuelled creativity we feel for almost every project, to really understand what it is that we need to do. The people who use our spaces day in and day out are undoubtedly going to be affected them, and for the homeless community, this stretches right through to the success of their recovery.
There needs to be deeper research into how we approach this particular design challenge, because as it stands, there does not seem to be enough data to fully and fairly represent the requirements of these spaces. However, I do think that starting with Discrete Architecture, there are a series of revolutionary strategies that could support some really progressive design responses to transitional housing.
McLane and Pable's study has really inspired me to ensure that I fully understand the depths of what I'm doing. My actions as a designer are going to have a ripple effect upon the people subjected to my creativity. I want these to be positive ripples, so understanding the biological responses and social relations between people and space is only going to aid this.
I would really like to work on a Homeless Recovery Housing project one day. I have been inspired!
2020. Local authority spending on homelessness: 2020 update. [ebook] Middlesex: WPI Economics Limited. Available at: <https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Local%20authority%20homelessness%20spending%202020.pdf> [Accessed 10 March 2021].
Claypool, M., 2021. Discrete Automation. [online] E-flux.com. Available at: <https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/becoming-digital/248060/discrete-automation/> [Accessed 1 February 2021].
Dettlaff, W., 2014. Space syntax analysis–methodology of understanding the space. PhD Interdisciplinary Journal, pp.283-291.
Drivenbyvolumes.io. 2021. Discrete Automation – Driven by Volumes. [online] Available at: <http://drivenbyvolumes.io/discrete/> [Accessed 1 February 2021].
McLane, Y. and Pable, J., 2020. Architectural Design Characteristics, Uses, and Perceptions of Community Spaces in Permanent Supportive Housing. Journal of Interior Design, 45(1), pp.33-52.
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2021. Statutory Homelessness July to September (Q3) 2020 (Revised): England. London: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Samhsa.gov. 2021. Housing and Shelter. [online] Available at: <https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-programs-resources/hpr-resources/housing-shelter> [Accessed 12 February 2021].
Vaughan, L., 2015. Suburban urbanities. London: UCL Press, p.307.
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