Homes Designed to Nurture Women and Children’s Wellbeing and Recovery from Homelessness
The project comprises two replicable homes for the Hobart Women’s Shelter, addressing the urgent need for safe accommodation for women and children facing homelessness. Designed with trauma-informed principles, these low-cost, low-maintenance homes offer safety, comfort and dignity. These prototypes are an exemplar of architectural thinking applied to a volume-housing model.
This project illustrates the power of architects’ involvement in outreach, advocacy and research for critical social issues. It is vital that architects have a seat at the table, so that they can advocate for quality housing for vulnerable people.This project also illustrates the value of architects’ involvement in the volume-home and social housing sectors. The architects collaborated with St Joseph Affordable Homes, a volume-home builder whose values aligned but had limited prior experience working with architects. Furthermore, the homes are a modular design, enabling future replications to be delivered using innovative rapid prefabrication methodologies as they become available.
We engaged Emily and Chris with the goal of creating beautiful, architecturally designed, trauma-informed, and sustainable homes focused on the specific needs of women and children experiencing homelessness. Homes that could change how partners envisaged social and affordable housing. They have done exactly that, exceeding our expectations and those of our partners on this project.
Throughout the journey, Emily and Chris have maintained openness, willingness, and adaptability in both design and construction, considering the most intricate of details to ensure the two homes embed trauma-informed design principles while maximizing the space, durability, liveability, and efficiencies of our first development site.
Their knowledge has added significant additional value to this project, including through:
Janet Saunders,
- Connecting us with key partners and businesses that supported our first two homes, and may support future developments.
- Secured $205,000 of pro bono/in-kind support and/or discounted products by leveraging their extensive networks toward the HWS 25 home target.
- Providing over 500 hours of pro bono support to the project including supporting the HWS in advocacy with key decision makers.
- Providing feasibility analysis and support to consider other land opportunities.
- Helping pioneer trauma-informed design as the quality standard for both social and affordable housing, and crisis accommodation.
CEO, Hobart Women’s Shelter
Architect: Christopher Clinton with Core Collective Architects
Project Team
Christopher Clinton
Emily Taylor
Georgina Russell
Kirsten Fox
Ryan Strating
Ceridwen Owen
Kathrine Vand
Client: Hobart Women’s Shelter
Builder: St Joseph Affordable Homes
Building Surveyor: Lee Tyers Building Surveyors
Structural and Civil Engineering: Gandy & Roberts Consulting Engineers
Landscape Architect: SBLA Studio
Planning Consultant: Danielle Gray, Gray Planning
Environmental Consultant: Enviro Dynamics
Traffic Engineer: Howarth Fisher and Associates
Energy Consultant: Red Sustainability
Client Collaborator: Cate Sumner, Law & Development Partners
Colour Specialist: Lymesmith Polychromy
Lighting Consultant: Southern Lighting & Distribution
Trauma-Informed Design Advisor: Samantha Donnelly, UTS
Signage Graphic Design: Futago
Stylist: Home + Style Hobart
Photography: Adam Gibson Photographer
