Elevate Your Space with Designed to Heal

Trauma-informed design is about creating spaces that recognise how past experiences of harm, stress, or abuse can affect the way people feel in their surroundings. It asks a simple but powerful question: “How can we design this place so that everyone feels safe, supported, and in control?”

Instead of focusing only on how a building looks, trauma-informed design pays attention to how it feels to be inside it. For survivors, even small details — like harsh lighting, echoing sounds, or locked doors — can trigger stress or fear. By carefully considering these details, designers can help reduce anxiety and create environments that encourage healing.

At its core, trauma-informed design rests on a few key principles:

• Safety: Spaces that feel physically secure and emotionally protective.
• Choice & Control: The ability to decide where to sit, how much light you want, or when to be alone.
• Calmness: Using colour, light, sound, and texture to reduce stress.
• Connection: Offering places for positive social interaction and peer support.
• Empowerment: Environments that remind survivors of their strength, dignity, and potential.

This approach can be applied anywhere — from refuges and hospitals to schools, workplaces, and even homes. It is not about luxury or aesthetics; it is about designing with care and awareness, so that survivors don’t just feel sheltered, but also seen, respected, and supported in their journey toward healing.

In short, trauma-informed design transforms spaces from being just functional into being restorative — places that do more than house people, they help them heal.