Synergy Services has provided shelter and a new beginning for hundreds of at-risk families since the mid-1980s. Synergy’s counselors and case managers help families heal, find employment and childcare, and have the emotional and physical strength to start over. However, the long waiting list for subsidized housing often undermines Synergy’s most concerted effort to fulfill its goal of helping victims “become safe today and strong tomorrow.” Because of this ongoing need for safe housing, DRAW’s design of a multi-unit residential complex helps support occupants’ transition into independence by providing apartments that ensure residents’ physical safety and security in ways that provide emotional support.

This “design as therapy” approach will mitigate noise from adjacent homes and highways with vegetated buffers while providing safe pedestrian paths, open visual corridors, and well-lit parking areas—the outdoor spaces focused on therapeutic passive recreation and respite for diverse ages. Passive design strategies for energy efficiency, health, comfort, and well-being become the priorities for the interiors.

Because the development is part of an existing community, the neighborhood’s concerns were surveyed and built into the design to sustain the resilience and pedestrian-friendly aspects of the current context.