Architecture students design and build shelter to serve Tucson’s unhoused
May 22, 2025
The University of Arizona published a wonderful story about the capstone project that 16 students in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) completed in partnership with the Tucson Hope Factory, the Drachman Institute, the City of Tucson, and St. Francis Shelter Community.
Over the course of the school year, the students designed and built a prototype 8-by-12-foot micro-shelter intended to lay the groundwork for a network of similar shelters serving unhoused people in Southern Arizona. Their process was rooted in empathy-based architecture: they toured local facilities that serve unhoused people, interviewed currently and formerly unhoused residents about their needs, and traveled to Seattle to study successful micro-shelter villages there.
The finished 96-square-foot prototype reflects what they heard: generous storage with a wall of shelving and closet space, a skylight, and natural materials like wood wherever possible. It is designed to be dismantled, transported, and reassembled on site by volunteers using instruction booklets the students created, and to stand up to Southern Arizona’s extreme climate. At a public presentation in May, community members toured the prototype and saw the students’ research on energy efficiency and five potential village sites around Tucson.
With the prototype and plans now finished, THF founder Chuck Dunn has an important foundation upon which to build the vision of a micro-shelter network in Tucson. As Chuck put it, the project was a win-win for the students and the community.
Read the full University of Arizona story here:
Architecture students design and build shelter to serve Tucson’s unhoused (news.arizona.edu)