Turning A Nightclub Into A Shelter For Homeless Teenagers

Can a building exude trust? When Berkeley Architect and U.C. Berkeley professor Sam Davis designed the Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, he discovered that transitional and temporary housing isn't just providing beds, it means provide all the things provided by family and a home. The facilities have to promote a sense of security and trust on a limited budget and in unconventional spaces, without sacrificing feelings of privacy. "If homeless people come to a facility that's impersonal, institutional and threatening, they may just turn around and leave," says Davis. Davis is now publishing a how-to manual on designing for the homeless, signifying the power an architect has to transform spaces, and to transform the lives of homeless teenagers.

Thanks to Ratna Amin