BC Housing Shelter Guidelines

CitySpaces was commissioned by BC Housing to prepare the Shelter Guidelines to assist non-profit housing societies and development teams with the planning, design and development process for upgrading existing shelters or constructing new emergency shelters. The goal of the guidelines was to improve the provision of services to diverse vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness, applicable across the province.

Key components of preparing the Shelter Guidelines included:

• Preparing a Shelter Guidelines Context Backgrounder Report, to highlight major strategic areas for discussion and decisions making.
• Facilitating a Shelter Guidelines workshop with BC Housing senior staff, focusing on design challenges and opportunities.
• Preparing the Shelter Guidelines document, including graphic and illustrative visual enhancements.

The final Shelter Guidelines document outlines key considerations for renovating and building new emergency shelters. This includes provisions specific to shelter users and client mix, safety provisions, integration of shelter spaces with transitional or other housing forms, design considerations including durability and accessibility, neighbourhood integration, and interior space programming such as minimum floor areas and unit prototypes. Special considerations for women, LGBT2QS and First Nations populations were incorporated into the Shelter Guidelines. The Shelter Guidelines incorporates standards for creating warm, welcoming and safe environment for clients and shelter staff.

The final BC Housing Shelter Guidelines can be found here.

CLIENT: BC Housing