Boutique

Playground

Meeting Room

from the architect
The floor plan and design are the result of careful research and information-gathering about the needs of residents and staff. To develop the most appropriate and functional facility, we interviewed residents of the old Safehouse about their experience, surveyed Crossroads staff about their experience, and spoke to domestic violence shelters around the country. We visited facilities throughout Colorado and Texas to develop best practices and avoid any disadvantages they identified in their own designs.
Our considerations included:

• Security, security, security
• Resident privacy
• The balance between feeling home-y and practicality of maintenance
• The children’s need to play, to feel comfortable
• The agency’s need to provide all necessary services
• The need for a “public” face for the agency
• The residents’ need to heal, to de-stress
• Sustainability and the need for economical operations
• The residents’ need to control their own food and cooking
• Agency storage needs
• The needs of the disabled (who are disproportionately represented among the abused)
• Large families’ need to sleep in the same or adjoining rooms

We were delighted to find that the former nursing home lends itself very well to its new use. As a domestic violence shelter, this facility will provide quality domestic violence services and safehousing to our community.

Justin Larson, AIA
JCL Architecture