The promised funding to build 75 new women’s refuges in NSW will double current capacity. This accommodation and support for women, children and pets in urban, rural, and regional areas will potentially save lives and importantly, will help deliver much needed services to these communities. However, scant detail exists on the design of these buildings that will need to provide safety, security, and dignity.
The NSW government suggests a “core and cluster housing” type is preferred. This housing type – self-contained accommodation units (clusters) with a separate administration office (core) – provides privacy and a sense of home to families who are allocated their own “house” with access to a communal kitchen for larger gatherings, laundry, and gardens.
The central core contains offices for the support team, consultation rooms and activity spaces. This housing type is radically different to the more common “congregate” housing type, where families are allocated a bedroom within a large house, sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities. However, it requires more land area, more construction, more security, and eventually more maintenance to maintain the landscape and units.