Designed Modular Women's Shelter Concept
ROLE
User Research
Concept Development
Spatial Design
3D Prototyping
TIMELINE
48-hour Designathon
TEAM
4 Designers
SKILLS
0 → 1 Product Design
3D Design in Spline
AWARD
Top 5 Finalist
🏅
Reimagining women's shelters through modular, privacy-focused spatial design.
Designed in 48 hours during the 2026 UC San Diego Design Frontiers Designathon.
OVERVIEW
Design Question
How might we redesign the homeless shelter experience so women feel safe, respected, and supported while maximizing limited shelter capacity?
The Challenge
Many women enter shelters after experiencing trauma, yet traditional dormitory-style layouts often provide limited privacy, storage, and personal safety. Our challenge was to redesign the shelter experience to better balance dignity, safety, accessibility, and space efficiency.
Design Goals
Prioritize resident safety
Restore dignity
Maximize shelter capacity
Design for accessibility
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
Understanding Women's Shelter Experiences
Through secondary research and competitive analysis, we identified recurring challenges around safety, privacy, storage, and shelter capacity.
Competitive Analysis
We analyzed existing shelters and modular housing concepts to understand current limitations and identify opportunities to improve safety, privacy, accessibility, and space efficiency.
Research Findings
Shelter demand continues to outpace available capacity in many communities.
Many women entering shelters have experienced previous physical or sexual violence, making feelings of safety especially important.
Traditional dormitory-style sleeping arrangements often provide little privacy, personal control, or dedicated storage.
Limited storage policies force residents to leave behind valuable belongings.
Shelter providers must balance resident wellbeing with financial and spatial constraints.
90%
Homeless women have experienced severe physical or sexual abuse
38%
Domestic violence survivors experience homelessness at some point in their lifetime
$24k
Approximate annual operating cost per shelter bed.
Opportunity Areas
Improve both perceived and actual safety.
Increase privacy while maintaining staff visibility.
Maximize the use of limited shelter space.
Provide secure storage and accessible accommodations.
PROCESS
Initial sketches and spatial layouts
We explored multiple layouts to balance privacy, supervision, and efficient use of limited space. After several iterations, we selected a modular honeycomb-inspired pod system.
My Process
My role focused on translating research into spatial concepts, sketching modular layouts, and building the final interactive Spline prototype while collaborating with three teammates.
FINAL SOLUTION
Modular Hive Pods
A modular pod system that replaces traditional dormitories with private sleeping spaces while maximizing shelter capacity.
Each pod includes:
A private sleeping area
Integrated personal storage
A semi-transparent frosted acrylic folding door that balances privacy with visibility for resident safety
Accessibility
Accessible Pods
Ground-floor pods were specifically designed for residents with mobility impairments. These units provide additional clearance for wheelchair users, integrated storage within reach, and an emergency call button beside the bed for quick access to staff assistance.
Standard Pods
Integrated storage
Frosted folding door
Compact modular footprint
Second-floor layout
Space Efficiency
Rather than expanding building size, stacking pods vertically allows the shelter to increase capacity while minimizing additional construction costs and preserving communal circulation space.
Interactive Prototype
Built in Spline to communicate the spatial experience through an interactive walkthrough.
Key Design Decisions
Privacy with Visibility
Frosted doors provide personal space while maintaining staff awareness.
Secure Storage
Dedicated storage reduces the need to limit personal belongings.
Trauma-Informed Design
Private pods create personal boundaries within a shared community.
Modular Construction
Repeating pod units simplify construction, reduce material waste, and improve scalability for future shelters.
OUTCOME & REFLECTION
Top 5 finalist 2026 UC San Diego Design Frontiers Designathon
Built an interactive Spline prototype to communicate the shelter experience.
48-hour collaborative design sprint
Trauma-informed shelter concept
Presented to design professionals during the Design Frontiers showcase.
Hive Haven showed me that UX principles extend beyond digital products. Designing for physical environments required balancing emotional needs, accessibility, spatial constraints, and operational realities within a single system.
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