Women’s refuges as workplaces: Design for care-practices in NSW

Women’s refuges provide safe housing and specialist support for women and children who escape domestic and family violence. Refuges are also workplaces where experts in domestic and family violence deliver trauma-informed care, safety planning, and tailored accommodation to meet the needs of each resident. This research examines women’s refuges in New South Wales from an architectural design perspective and considers how building types and their interiors can contribute to best-practice response strategies that prioritise safety and dignity for workers and residents. It argues for designed environments supporting workers’ expertise by centring women’s lived experiences towards an architecture of care.