An architect from London has won an award for his innovative designs for ‘pods’ that give shelter to homeless people.
James Furzer came up with a design for small pods that can be attached to the side of any “host” building or structure to provide a safe place for homeless people to sleep at night.
urzer said part of his inspiration came from the growing number of metal spokes which have been appearing in popular sleeping spots to deter the homeless from sleeping there.
His design won the top prize in the ‘Space for New Visions’ competition organised by Farko, a global manufacturer of roof windows and loft ladders.
The number of homeless people sleeping rough has increased significantly over the past few years; youth homeless charity Centrepoint says the number of young people sleeping rough has more than doubled over the past few years.
Homeless charity Shelter says 7,581 people slept rough in London between 2014 and 2015 – a rise of 16% on the previous year, and more than double the figure of 3,673 in 2009 /2010. Furzer says he hopes to finalise his design and get some backing to build the structure so that it can be available to homeless people across the city, and beyond.
“The concept never once states that this will cure the homeless issue, and prevent homelessness altogether. I would like to think this could be one step forward in helping the homeless. Not curing it.”
Jennifer Barnes, Head of Policy and Research at homeless charity Centrepoint said:
It’s really encouraging to see talented people like James focussed on tackling the growing problem of rough sleeping in the capital.
“Anti-homeless spikes, which have concerned James and many others, are a short-sighted response which has added to the stigma of homelessness, and failed to address the root causes.”
The above article is from ITV News. Click here for original.
