Image credit: Samantha Donnelly
Project details
Lead:
- Associate Professor Ceridwen Owen
- Samantha Donnelly (UTS)
Collaborators:
- Hobart Women’s Shelter
- Core Collective Architects
- Dr James Crane (UTAS)
Funding: Various Government and Community grants and donations.
Date: 2022 – (ongoing)
“The quality of space matters enormously for those working with and those experiencing trauma. Good design can promote safety, wellbeing, and healing for those in a crisis state.” Hobart Women’s Shelter
This project explores principles of trauma-informed design in the context of supported housing and refuges for women and children escaping domestic violence and homelessness. It combines theoretical, social sciences and applied design research to critique, develop and test design principles and design proposals for trauma-informed design.
A key focus of the project is a partnership with the Hobart Women’s Shelter to develop and evaluate designs that meet the needs of women and children living in the Shelter and long-term supported accommodation.
Theoretical research
Owen, C. and Crane, J. (2022) “Trauma-informed design of supported housing: a scoping review through the lens of neuroscience”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(21):1-27.
Owen, C. and Crane, J. (2025 – in publication) “Nature, well-being and trauma-informed design: Reframing the landscape through the lens of neuroscience”. In B. Marques and J. McIntosh (Eds) Designing Therapeutic Environments: Social and Cultural Practice for Health and Well-Being, Routledge.
Lived Experience research
Owen. C. and Donnelly, S. (2024 - current) “Trauma Informed Design: Lived Experience of Women and Children at Hobart Women’s Shelter” (supported by Myers Foundation Grant received by Hobart Women’s Shelter)
Design Research
Hobart Women’s Shelter: Therapy, recreation and play spaces
- Concept Design - Owen. C. and Donnelly, S. (2023-24)
- Detail Design/Doc – Core Collective Architects with Owen, C. and Donnelly, S. (2024 - current)
Other related work:
Isabel and Elsie: prototype housing for Hobart Women’s Shelter (2024) – Core Collective Architects and Christopher Clinton Architect.