Safe [ tŷ ]
Warning: This work contains material that some viewers may find sensitive or distressing. Discretion is advised.
The infrastructure of care for survivors of domestic abuse is broken. Refuges are at capacity, and entry requirements exclude many of the most vulnerable - leaving many with nowhere to go.
Safe[tŷ] is a trauma-informed transitional housing project in Ardwick, Manchester, conceived as a sanctuary for women and children rebuilding their lives after the impact of domestic abuse. Safe[tŷ] grows from reflections of home to me, in North Wales. With “tŷ” meaning house in Welsh, together the title translates to “safe house”. In response to the thesis question, "How can empathetic spatial practices provide safe temporary homes in an industrial 'non-place'?" - key principles of safety, empathy, and nature weave together living, therapeutic, and nursery spaces gathered around landscaped gardens. The project transforms a transient industrial site into a gentle place of refuge, renewal, and care. It is important to recognise that for many survivors, spaces like this do not exist. The visualisations in this project show dignity, warmth and safety - things that should be a right, not a privilege.
Below are the last two verses of a poem written by a domestic abuse survivor, shared by the Bedfordshire Police.
So as I took my final breath
It was not my body that was about to die
My wounds would heal, the scars will fade
But the memory haunts me every day of my life
I wish he killed me
I died that day, and repeatedly since
I’m no longer that girl, bubbly and strong
I join the ranks of the walking dead
While the unwelcome days of life move slowly on.
