Inspiring ideas from un/SHELTERED: Toronto Design Challenge
In Toronto, approximately 1,000 people are unsheltered, living in encampments, ravines, doorways, and bus stops. The emergency shelter system is not enough. We urgently need new housing solutions.
In spring 2024, West End Phoenix and Maytree launched un/SHELTERED: Toronto Design Challenge, a competition aimed at addressing this critical issue. The goal was to find innovative and practical ideas for physical structures that would allow unsheltered individuals to live with dignity. The response was inspiring, ranging in physical form, proposed location, and features to meet people’s varying needs. Among them, four stood out for their practicality, creativity, and commitment to upholding human dignity.
Left to right: Elizabeth McIsaac (Maytree), Hunter Kauremszky, Peter Fennell, Robbie Suehiro, Karolina Grujic, Dave Bidini (West End Phoenix), and Henry Schilthuis.
One submission ultimately excelled: The Shell, designed by Karolina Grujic and Robbie Suehiro. Here’s a closer look at the winner and finalists.
Winner
The Shell
These modular, modified shipping containers are designed for single or double occupancy and can be clustered around a communal kitchen, washroom, and laundry facility, and staffed around the clock. This solution offers flexibility and scalability.
The designers
Robbie Suehiro is an architectural designer with more than 10 years of experience in the construction industry. He has worked on a variety of projects, including retail spaces, restaurants and educational institutions.
Karolina Grujic is a LEED- and WELL- accredited Toronto-based architect and mentor.
As ARK’s design team, they have successfully worked together on design challenges for more than eight years.
Finalists
Pallet Communities in Parking Garages
This concept uses recycled wooden pallets to create shelters in underused indoor parking garages. The strong structures provide weather protection, and existing utilities can be used to set up washroom facilities. A modular, pre-fabricated design keeps the cost of these shelters low.
The designer
Peter Fennell is an engineer based in New York who studied mechanical engineering and manufacturing at the University of Mississippi. He currently works for the construction company Turner, exploring opportunities for modularity in commercial buildings.
Portable Steel Cabins
This proposal calls for rapidly deployable steel sleep cabins, designed for year-round comfort, that can be delivered and installed in just six weeks. Sleep cabins would be clustered around a central community house with washrooms, kitchen, laundry and meeting space.
The designers
Schilthuis Construction (Henry Schilthuis) brings more than 75 years of experience to diverse projects across Ontario.
Invizij Architects (Emma Cubitt) is an award-winning firm that embraces the responsibility of designers to create sustainable communities.
Future Storage (Dan Postma) works in the moving and storage space with a focus on community support.
Village in a Box
Off-the-grid shelters featuring built-in greenhouse walls enable residents to grow their own food, fostering self-sustaining communities.
The designers
Hunter Kauremszky is a graduate student studying architecture in Toronto, whose research focuses on the intersection between agriculture and living in urban settings.
Jake Kroft is currently pursuing dual master of Architecture and Landscape Architecture degrees at UBC and holds a bachelor of Architectural Science from TMU and an advanced diploma in Architectural Technology from Fanshawe College.
Jake Levy is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Science at TMU. His interests include digital fabrication, crafting physical models, and participating in student-led design-builds.
These designs remind us that innovative thinking can reimagine the possibilities for housing and address the root causes of homelessness. See more details.
Meet the judges
This competition was guided by a panel of judges with expertise in architecture, urban planning, and working with people who are homeless:
- Alex Bozikovic: Architecture critic at The Globe and Mail and instructor at the University of Toronto
- Valesa Faria: Executive Director of Development Review at the City of Toronto
- Karen Kubey: Urbanist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto
- Diana Chan McNally: Community and crisis worker in Toronto’s downtown east side
- Steve Teekens: Executive Director of Na-Me-Res, supporting Indigenous men experiencing homelessness