Ellis Williams Architects were recently approached by Gwynedd Council to come up with a charitable design solution for the homeless community in their region. A pod type solution was suggested which would provide shelter, a bed, washing facilities and maybe cooking facilities.
After an initial email to all of our staff requesting volunteers for this project, we set up an internal design workshop in the office to brainstorm ideas around possible solutions. Following on from this people took on separate roles to produce the concept ideas before meeting again to review.
We ended up with diagrams on how the pods could be arranged and fitted out internally, some initial concept ideas on construction and sustainability with an exploded econometric view, plus some ideas around helping the homeless communities in general by providing access to health care, washing facilities, education and training.
Our concept centred around the idea of a flexible community hub that would grow and adapt to the needs of individuals and the wider community, providing all the welfare amenities in one central location. This was put forward to Gwynedd Council last week and we look forward to working with them in the New Year to develop this further.