Hopefully, most of us won’t have to deal with being homeless during our lives — however, that shouldn’t keep us from feeling empathy for those who are in this situation. Ikea has turned its empathy into action by helping drive the construction of a Small Home in San Antonio’s Towne Twin Village that is grounded in trauma-informed design and now serves as the residence for a formerly homeless person.
What is trauma-informed design (TID)? It’s a philosophy that supports healing, reduces the risk of re-traumatization and promotes overall wellbeing. TID emphasizes safety, trust, beauty, joy, choice, empowerment, community and connection, and translates these traits into physical form — in this case, a small home (with a 365-square-foot interior) modeled on a cocoon, “an incredibly safe space from which the butterfly emerges,” said James Andrews, Design Director of WestEast Design Group, which specializes in TID, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.
The initiative that led to this Small Home began approximately three years ago, when Ikea started an exploratory program to “see how we could work toward creating systemic change for society’s biggest issues, and move away from one-time donations toward positive impact,” said Samantha Eisenman, Sustainability Business Partner at Ikea in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “Conversations with internal and external stakeholders were around figuring out what we, with our unique capabilities as a home furnishings retail company and design experts, would bring to these types of problems.”
Focus Groups Fed Into Design Decisions
These conversations led Ikea to San Antonio, where WestEast and Social Impact Studios had already been involved in TID projects. WestEast created a mockup of the planned home that was then placed in a San Antonio Ikea store, where it served as fodder for focus groups with people who had experienced homelessness. Their input affected key design decisions before the Towne Twin Small Home was finalized and built.
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“TID is about ensuring that [a built environment] is not just beautiful or functional but that it can really support wellbeing,” said Eisenman. “Take the safety principle. It’s not just about actual safety, like doors and locks, but perceived safety.” Ikea realized it needed to be sensitive to occupants who, for example, might need such a home because they are fleeing domestic violence.
That perception of safety (or danger) inspired a key change from the home’s original design, which had featured floor-to-ceiling windows in an effort to get as much natural light in as possible. “Feedback from the focus groups indicated that [this design] didn’t make them feel safe,” said Eisenman. “It felt like someone could be looking in or could kick in the window — it didn’t give them that sense of safety and comfort. It’s so telling and interesting, and it’s an incredible example of how people’s experiences really impact how they feel and exist in the space.”
The windows’ sill heights were raised, and layered window treatments, including blackout blinds, were added. “Hopefully, one day, the person will find joy in those big windows,” said Eisenman. “We wanted to allow the flexibility that they could keep them closed, or open, as much as they wanted.”
The Ins and Outs of TID
The structure is not just a safe retreat from a dangerous world; it’s meant to be a place where people can start to heal. For example, even though the structure is small, the rooms are designed to be large enough that the occupant can have people over for a visit or a meal. “There’s a ‘safe space’ in the back that gives [the occupant] the opportunity to invite someone in,” said Andrews. Additionally, a six-foot glassed-in porch “provides an interstitial space between the home and the community.”
WestEast is uniquely qualified for this project because the studio was “created specifically to look at human trauma,” said Andrews. “It’s a studio [within] an architectural firm that’s directed by a social worker, and that now includes researchers, policy experts, human performance experts, as well as designers who are passionate about this connection.”
For the Ikea initiative, “we started with trying to understand the impacts of trauma on the brain, which is that it puts you into a ‘fight or flight’ mode,” said Andrews, noting that the brain typically takes at least three months to recover from a traumatic incident. “During that time, you don’t make rational decisions because you’re still in that fight-or-flight mode,” he explained.
Some eventual residents might be dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can be triggered by external stimuli. “With soldiers [suffering from PTSD], there’s a period of recovery — it doesn’t just go from bad to good overnight,” said Andrews. “We’ve all seen the movies that feature triggers — it could be something visual, words said to the person or just a sense of being intimidated in engagements with people, when you feel you’ve got nowhere to go. We’ve looked at trauma and the psychology of space and the impact of clutter, which can make people feel overwhelmed. Some people are looking for a place that’s simple, clean and tidy to reduce their stress.”
The mandate to create a space that both is safe and feels safe affected numerous design and construction decisions. Noting that trauma often interferes with people’s sleep patterns, “we took a lot of care regarding acoustics, in the materials for the walls, the insulation and also the air conditioning and heat pump units, which have ‘smart’ motors that can run at very low speeds, gently feeding the air into the space and nearly silent,” said Andrews. “Also, there’s no external compressor; they’re self-contained. We also used good glazing and good quality windows to make it calm and quiet.”
Additionally, there is a storage shed at the back of the unit where residents will be able to lock up a bicycle or outdoor furniture. “That way people can know their stuff isn’t going to get stolen,” said Andrews.
Creating Cost-Effective Cocoons
Both Ikea and WestEast realized that for such a design to scale, it had to be created as solidly, simply and cost-effectively as possible. “In the interests of reducing clutter, there’s no wood trim or added architectural elements, which not only reduces material use but also reduces clutter,” said Andrews. “We wanted to create a very simple backdrop for the furniture and the lights.”
WestEast also found a way to create panels using wooden nails rather than metal ones, reducing construction costs and also “leaning into the sustainability aspect of Ikea’s brand,” said Andrews. The Small Home also substitutes movable curtains for doors, which both reduces material use and maximizes the sense of space. “It’s a simple idea that brought together a lot of flexibility,” he noted. “It creates a softer, more cocoon-like interior. It’s like wrapping yourself in a blanket.”
What’s Next: Study and Scaling Up
Now that the resident has moved into the Small Home, both Ikea and WestEast will continue to study the structure and the resident’s experiences. “Now we have a lot of debriefings and learnings to go through — What did we really need? What didn’t we need? We need to go through all the details to figure out what those next steps might be,” said Eisenman.
She sees several parallels between Ikea’s business model and this initiative: “TID resonated with us so much, and it’s not so different from how we approach spaces already,” she said. “It’s about taking that extra step to really understand the needs of the end user. The experiences that that person or family has had can impact how they view and navigate the world, as well as how it might impact the way the space around them feels.”
Ikea has developed TID training for its own associates and is working on rolling it out to additional employees. The retailer also has invested in TID pilot projects in Memphis, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
“We want to continue the conversation around TID, and through the research, show the impact of what a TID space can do,” said Eisenman. “I’d like to see more conversations around it so that it could become more of a standard versus a nice-to-have. Imagine what the world could be if spaces could be built that intentionally support wellbeing for everyone.”
TID “speaks so much to how we as Ikea already approach the idea of home,” she added. “It’s not just four walls and a roof; it’s a space where you can create memories, and can discover and nurture yourself and others within that space. The TID approach supports all of that.”