Reflections on Trauma Informed Design in the Justice System
Earlier this month, Snug's Managing and Design Director Paul Bulkeley sat down with Noa Shoshan and Laura Verstraete from RESCALED's European office to reflect on Hope Street — our pioneering facility for women in the justice system, commissioned by the charity One Small Thing.
The conversation became a valuable post-occupancy review: what worked, what we'd do differently, and whether the Hope Street model and the principles of trauma-informed design have scalable applications across the wider justice estate. Here are the key takeaways.
Design That Stays in the Background
Hope Street is brick and zinc, quite formal in its geometry. It softens through timber, planting, a curve in the staircase, and a central courtyard. We deliberately avoided designing a building that is "all curves" — which would have played into stereotype and, practically speaking, would have been complicated and very expensive to build.
One of the more challenging pieces of feedback we received is that the building reads as quite masculine. Lighter, softer, rounder surfaces are generally perceived as more feminine, while symmetrical, classical forms tend to read as masculine. It's a fair critique and one we continue to sit with.
What does seem to work is the spatial design. The kitchen and dining lounge, the café as an intermediary space connecting residents with the community, and the garden all perform well. The flats themselves are nice but essentially standard — the architecture does its heavy lifting in the shared and transitional spaces. We would describe the design as being "in the background and a gentle aroma that patiently transforms."
A key insight: the most expensive thing to change in any building is its physical structure. Interior design, fit-out and minor renovations, by contrast, can make a significant difference — ideally refreshed every five to fifteen years to realign with current values and residents' needs. We believe that changes to 20% of a building's design can deliver 80% of the impact, particularly when focused on daylight, acoustics and biophilia. None of these need be expensive if considered carefully from the outset. Acoustics, in particular, deserve far more attention than they typically receive in justice settings. Our strong suspicion is that better acoustic design alone would reduce problems in many facilities.
Process Matters if you want a great Product
Hope Street was a pioneering project for both Snug and our client, and we don't shy away from acknowledging the risks that come with experimental work. What made it possible was open, strong leadership from the senior team at One Small Thing and a willingness to invest properly in the design process — community engagement, workshops, and taking time to genuinely understand needs, including those of people with lived experience.
We learned something important about our own practice too. Like much of the profession, most architects at Snug are men. We purposefully included one of our female architects in this project, both as a strategic decision and because it proved significant to the process. Had we not done so, we likely would not have built the trust needed with our client or with the justice-involved women whose input shaped the brief. It was about expertise and experience, but also about an empathy journey. Because the team genuinely listened, it made us better architects afterwards.
The lesson for practices considering this kind of work: be patient. With research and development in justice architecture, you have to play a long game before you can honestly assess whether a project has succeeded.
The Politics of Better Prisons
Political reactions to Hope Street differ sharply. A left-leaning visitor might see it as wonderful. A right-leaning visitor might say that a place that looks nicer than their own home is not justice. Both are valid political judgements, and both must be navigated.
Our role as architects was framed during the interview as translating utopian ideas into reality, which inevitably involves compromise. Hope Street didn't have to compromise as much as most projects because it was developed in what we called "a little silo of common ground" — shared values and private funding. The open question, and it's a big one, is whether this model is repeatable at scale on a government budget. That question sits at the heart of RESCALED's work across Europe. At Snug we believe it is.
There was remarkably little community resistance to Hope Street, likely because of its location near a non-residential area. But scalability will inevitably test that goodwill. Good design will surely help.
Honest Critique
Initial feedback has been positive. Both the women and staff respond well to the building. But it would be premature to call it a success or claim it has transformed lives. The justice system has operated in largely the same way for 200 years. One small pilot won't fundamentally change that — though such projects often punch above their weight and inspire others.
A critical question was raised in the interview that stays with us: why is no one championing this kind of initiative for men? The suggestion was that it may be easier to start with women, allowing them to pioneer change within the justice system due to their smaller numbers. But if similar principles were applied to male facilities, the impact could filter across the entire estate with greater impact on both justice and society.
We also reflected on a blind spot common to architects: we often forget to think about the people who work in buildings. Traditional justice architecture has prioritised security and, implicitly, discomfort — because it is still a prison and still a punishment. Trauma-informed design challenges that assumption for everyone inside the building, not just the residents. The long term value of that on the quality of care and well-being of those who work in the justice system is of huge value.
What Comes Next
We are currently applying trauma-informed design principles to a project for a homeless charity, including its women's shelters. The approach taken at Hope Street is transferable — and we believe its relevance extends well beyond justice.
As architects, we hope Hope Street makes a difference. But hope isn't enough. We need ongoing research to test our assumptions and build the evidence base for this way of working. That's the honest position, and we think it's the right one.