Global architecture and design firm Perkins and Will responds to need for interim solutions to the homelessness crisis. The Los Angeles studio is introducing DOME, a stackable modular furniture system designed to address issues of privacy and accommodation in interim housing facilities, inspired by the Mayor’s A Bridge Home initiative that identifies with the countries homelessness as a moral and humanitarian priority.
With nearly 60,000 people in need of adequate housing every night, more than 44,000 Los Angeles’ homeless people forgo the shelter system as they prefer to live independently outdoors where it is quiet and offers more privacy and security.
The goal of the A Bridge Home program is to lower barriers that have prevented people from entering supportive housing programs and bring them closer to resources that will put them on a path to a permanent home. DOME is focused on the issue of privacy within interim and emergency housing environments that provide a more humane experience for residents, while shelter provides long-term functionality and operational flexibility.
Perkins and Will have responded to the urgent need for specialized furnishings that can be rapidly deployed, are low cost and addresses the needs of both guests and operators, with the goal of creating 1,600 new beds in Greater Los Angeles by 2020 and changing existing beds that need replacing.
Each DOME unit is built with an extra-long twin bed with room for storage underneath, a lockable wardrobe, partitions, an aisle light, an outlet and an optional kennel area for pets. It can remain completely open or enclosed with an optional fabric canopy making it flexible from facility to facility. They’re constructed from some of the most durable materials on the market such as a solid surface fanel used on the exterior shell and an internal shelving with birch plywood used on the closet door. The solid surface is low maintenance and resists scratching as well as the wood accents giving it a residential character.
The aim is to get DOME into production and installed into as many facilities as possible in order to respond to the urgent needs of the area.