The Wanderlings Barn is a project that focuses on healing and rebuilding long-lost connections between people, animals, and nature.

The Wanderlings Barn is a space designed for people and dogs, who experienced PTSD or any traumatic experiences, for them to move past them and heal. The space is designed in a way to highlights the natural materials and surroundings of the hosting building, located in Clitheroe, England. The target users of this building would be people and dogs who either currently are experiencing PTSD and trauma, or have experienced it in the past. The concept is based on the idea of creating a ‘circle of support’. Which would allow all of the users to receive and give the help they need.

During the designing process, I came to the realisation that the hosting building is not sufficient to fulfill all aspects of the design that is needed for it to work, so it was necessary to add useable space outside of the main construction.  The layout of the space is reflecting on a ‘circle of support’ idea, which resulted in dedicating whole floors and buildings for a specific user group to occupy.

The original part of the building is mostly for people’s usage, for sleeping, eating, and interacting. The new building is split into three levels: dogs shelter, people activity space, and common space for every being. That way possible trauma-triggering situations are minimalized, and all groups can have some privacy without the necesitty of constant interactions.