OurChallenge
Shopworks Architecture has specialized in trauma-informed architectural design since 2017. After years of research, including thousands of interviews with end users, Shopworks partnered with Group 14 Engineering, University of Denver and Bryn Mawr College to publish a framework on trauma informed design. The new guide served as an update to the firm’s original white paper on the subject from 2020. Shopworks’ primary goal was to publish and distribute a guide for those interested in designing housing that helps people heal and thrive. Their secondary goal was to use the guide to further establish the firm as experts within this emerging field.
OurSolution
Barefoot worked with Shopworks to incorporate several design principles the firm uses in its trauma-informed architectural design practice into the layout of the guide. Our team was inspired by Shopworks’ research into biophilia and used overlays of the night sky to soften images and leaned into colors and fonts that inspire calm and restorative healing through human connection to nature. The visual cues created for section breaks mirrored the way floors of a building may be color-coded to help with wayfinding. The final designed guide serves as a compass for those interested in creating healing spaces and opens a dialogue to inform future work. The guide is available for download from shopworksarc.com.
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