Level Zero Apartment: Street Apartment to temporarily house homeless people

Abstract

Committed by Arrels Foundation, Barcelona (Spain)

First part: conceptualization, formalization and production, 2014-2016
Second part: evaluation and replication, expected in 2017-2018

Starting Point:
Level Zero Apartment is an experimental project to temporarily house homeless people that they don’t want to leave the street. It is given this name for the concept of being the first step, for homeless people, on the staircase of their lives, in a process of getting back on their feet.
The proposal was made in order to provide real input to the project which Arrels Foundation intended to carry out in the flat provided by the City Council of Barcelona for such uses in 84 of Carme Street, first floor, 2nd door.

Right now this project is a reality and represents the creation of a new typology of domestic space.

Collaborative and open project:
It was a collaborative project to explore the intersection of design innovation and public policy, reinforcing a better understanding of the role of design schools in research projects where social organizations are involved, and recognition of the importance of setting this spaces.
The promoter was open to the possibility of not achieving the expected results. Failure it was contemplated as a possible outcome but only if this possibility is accepted a productive social innovation can be favorable and productive. It was considered since the beginning a pilot project in order to test possible solutions for homeless people who face the most consolidated phases of social exclusion, a project conceived with the desire to be replicated in the future.
Conceptualization:
The research process was based on a combined operations followed. Physical space (apartment building and neighborhood) and the most immaterialist aspects were analyzed both at the same time, the needs of the space and the needs of the future inhabitants.
Design innovation considers that users’ existing knowledge and experience can help to continually refine solutions that are truly responsive to their needs. Understanding the user and the context within which they operate is essential for building the capacity to propose solutions. How to give homeless a chance to express their visions of cities and houses should be like? This is one of the questions still unresolved that the project posed. In any case, to carry out this project researchers explored and observed homeless shelter users. They also investigated current flats for the ex-homeless, the Arrels headquarters and other related facilities.
The main objective of the project was to hold the essential connotations of a house but without losing the versatility of a temporary or portable accommodation. The idea was to meet the needs of users not only from a care and legal perspective but also understanding the values and expectations of the accommodation, as well as its associated functions and symbols.
Development:
The apartment was designed to be used by a minimum of four people and two volunteers. The people who decide to spend the night at the Zero Apartment are accompanied by volunteers of Arrels. As well as ensuring the smooth functioning of the apartment, they will spend the night with the people who go there to sleep. It is a unique opportunity to refuge ties, thereby promoting the self-esteem and confidence needed by people who are excluded. This is why the first space in the apartment is the Agora. It is devised to encourage the necessary bonds between volunteers and users of the apartment. It is a place where people can sit down on a bench at a table, but can also be turned into a place to sleep. The topography of tiers extends towards the bedroom space and reaches the terrace, creating a versatile range of spots to sleep. Mattresses are stored away so that when the inhabitants of Level Zero Apartment arrive they can choose their place and make themselves at home. At the other end of the apartment, nearest to the balcony is the kitchenette, where they can heat up soup or make coffee, and the bedroom for the volunteers. The apartment also has a disabled access bathroom.

Level Zero Apartment started to be operative in September 2016 and it is open as a dormitory from 8 pm to 10 am. The project makes the most of the daytime hours when the apartment is unoccupied to provide Arrels with a space for training, incorporating a second use as a classroom. Space is used to train people volunteering with Arrels, and to attend anyone who is interested in finding out more about the Foundation’s project.
Impact

Level Zero Apartment was invited to participate at the exhibition Piso Piloto: Medellín and Barcelona, between floor and ceiling. Barcelona 24.06.2015 – 20.09.2015; Medellin 03.06.2015 – 25.10.2015 – http://www.pisopiloto.org/en/proposal/view/34/
A cross-disciplinary, collective exploration to fulfill people’s rights to housing and the city. The Piso Piloto initiative has been organized by the Mayor’s Office of Medellin and Barcelona City Council, in association with the Museum of Antioquia and the Centre for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB).

Level Zero Apartment was one of the four finalist projects of the FAD Awards to Architecture and Interior Design, 2016 - 58th edition of the Iberian architecture awards
http://arquinfad.org/premisfad/edicions-anteriors/?edicio/2016/obra/8592/

Next step is to prepare a publication including discussions about homeless and home, the process of working and a report of the first results of this pilot experience.

Recently this project has been news in the national newspapers (La Vanguardia, February 27th, 2017; El Periódico, March 3rd, 2017)

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