Architecture students at Drury University have unveiled a new shelter designed and built to aid the homeless community in Springfield, Missouri. Situated at the Revive 66 Campground, a local site offering nightly stays for unhoused people, the project is designed to offer a more spacious alternative to the teardrop trailers predominantly used in the grounds.

Outside, the shelter’s exposed timber structure and cladding are brought to life by a multicolored window forming a second skin around the patio. Inside, the cabin is designed with a full-sized bed to accommodate couples and enable ADA-compliant accessibility for wheelchair users. Heating is provided through an electric radiant floor system, supported by highly-insulated walls, floors, and ceilings.

“The structure honors the role of community in helping to provide dignity for those that so often encounter the indignities of poverty and homelessness,” said Traci Sooter, Hammons School of Architecture professor at Drury. “Through intentional design and the play of light, shadow, color and texture in this small cottage, we hope it will not only provide a warm, safe place to rest but will welcome and uplift its visitors.” 

Sooter and her students have been involved in the project since October 2021, with Drury architectural students collaborating with their political science peers, who contributed to the project by providing parallel research into the negative impact of policies and laws that disadvantage the homeless.

The Revive 66 Campground is often used by those waiting to secure a permanent home in the city, some of whom arrive at the grounds as early as 3 pm to secure a shelter. As a result, the team took the opportunity to engage with the community and listen to their concerns, which included a lack of secure, wheelchair-accessible shelters.

“I've had a lot of conversations with [the community],” Sooter told the Springfield News-Leader. “And one of the things that really motivated me and kept me coming out here when it was cold and rainy, one of the ladies who was waiting outside the fence just kept saying thank you.”

The project is one of many recent examples of architecture students undertaking design-build projects in their local community. Earlier this month, we reported on an ADU designed and constructed by Rice architecture students in Texas, inspired by the state’s traditional Texas Dogtrot dwellings.

In April, a team of students and faculty from Virginia Tech completed a world-first observation tower with innovative low-carbon timber, while separately, the University of Virginia campus played host to an exhibition of biomaterial structures created by architecture students and faculty from around the United States.