A place where everyone feels safe and included.
The Solution
The YWCA Kikaskihtânaw Centre for Women and Families mission is
to provide community, kinship, hope and healing to the community it
serves. Kikaskihtânaw is a Cree word that translates to ‘the place we all
succeed.’ To support this message, the design team employed a traumainformed
design approach that focused on inclusion, accessibility and
safety. Says Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen, CEO, YWCA Regina, “It was
important for everyone involved in the project to understand how to
take a large institutional building and make it feel homey, soft and safe.”
Explains design team lead, LeeAnn Croft, Principal, 1080 Architecture
Planning + Interiors, “To avoid having it feel like a very regimented,
rectangular space typically seen in institutional buildings, a lot of
attention was paid to transparency, visibility, and sight lines so you
never feel like you’re in a corner.” Mimicking a horseshoe shape, the
building features a curved walkway that connects all areas and brings
natural light into every part of the building. The focal point of the
building is the sweat lodge, which can be seen from everywhere to
reinforce the healing nature of the building. A single, main entrance
naturally encourages people to cross paths and connect. From the
entrance, the atrium offers a café and storefronts that include a thrift
shop. The building also contains a resident area with three storeys of
housing and services for women at risk. Other areas include childcare,
youth and community hubs along with staff and administrative spaces.
It is important the space demonstrates the YWCA values their clients.
Furniture is used as a de-escalation tool to evoke a sense of calm,
comfort and safety. Explains Coomber-Bendtsen “If people feel they
are walking into an institution, it lays the framework for an explosion.
By choosing to use our budget more on client spaces rather than
executive areas, we were able to get high quality furniture where you
feel you are being hugged and embraced—that doesn’t feel like you’re
in a psych ward.” She adds “We wanted them to think ‘You’ve seen my
worth, so I’ve started seeing my worth’.”
A mixture of soft colors and textures like vinyl that feels like velvet
provides the durability needed for a shelter setting without looking
institutional. A diversity of furniture pieces extends to all areas to
create a residential feel and enhance the feeling of choice. Furniture
was selected not simply for application but how it could promote
collaboration. Adds Coomber-Bendtsen, “When I saw how Teknion’s
furniture brought people together in a way that honors relationships
first, I knew it was the right choice for our space.” Not only has
the building been embraced by the larger community to create a
vibrant hub, it has also been effective in reducing the number of crisis
incidents occurring on-site. Coomber-Bendtsen concludes “We are
proud to have become a trusted place for the community to gather.
To have created a space where people feel they belong, is proof positive
that we’ve succeeded.”