The Pods | Commonweal Housing

The Pods

The Pods piloted transitional, short-term accommodation for disused spaces and night shelters, offering greater privacy and personal space.

Why was the project needed?

Across Britain full-time workers are being priced out of the rental property market and forced to find alternative accommodation.

In 2016, Commonweal funded research conducted by homeless charity Thames Reach, which revealed that over 1,500 Romanian migrant workers were sleeping rough in makeshift tent encampments in North London.

The research found that what they needed was short-term, transitional accommodation that could be used whilst they were working in an area and then packed up. In response, we launched a design competition for architects to create an adaptable form of accommodation that offered privacy and autonomy.

The Housing Solution

The winning entry from Reed Watts Architects proposed an almost flat-pack 'pod' that could be easily assembled, disassembled, and accommodated by night shelters.

The purpose of the Pods was to provide an alternative to mattresses laid out on the floor of a shelter, which offer very little privacy. Each Pod was designed to accommodate one person and included a bed, a safe box, a curtain, and a hook for hanging clothes. Testing of the Pods took place in three different locations across London during the winter of 2018-19: the Glasshouse in Islington, the 999 Club in Deptford and the Pilion Trust’s Crashpad.

“I like that the Pod gives me privacy and I can keep all my belongings in one place, plus I can sit and think about things without other people trying to talk to me.”

Bill*, who stayed in a Pod at the 999 Club’s night shelter

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Project outcomes

The Pods attracted positive endorsements from staff, volunteers, and guests. Feedback found guests 'love them' without exception, regardless of whether they get to sleep in them.

A number of UK shelters have adopted a similar design for low-level pods to accommodate guests.

Interest in running the Pods in shelters also emerged across the globe, including in Canada, the USA and Europe.

The innovative design of the Pods received recognition by winning second place for Innovation in Housing at Homeless Link’s 2018 Excellence Awards.

Key Learnings:

Commonweal commissioned an independent evaluation of the Pods, published in 2020 by Lelia Baker, which highlighted several benefits for users, including:

Privacy – The Pods provided guests with time to themselves, the ability to dress in private and the opportunity to retreat “when the bustle of the shelter gets too much”.

Storage – Having a dedicated place to hang clothes, store possessions and decorate helped give guests a sense of ownership over their space.

Safety – The Pods were shown to be especially valuable for women, other vulnerable guests, and guests who may otherwise be reluctant to use the shelter.

Comfort – Guests reported that the Pods were considerably more comfortable than sleeping on the floor, which was particularly important for those facing long workdays.

The evaluation report contains a Practical Framework for Replication designed for organisations to use and adapt the Pods for their own clients. It addresses the challenges faced by shelter managers who piloted the Pods in terms of assembling, storing, and managing them, providing guidance for other organisations looking to adapt the Pods to various shelter environments. Read the replication framework here.

Mark's story

Mark, a 48-year-old with a history of mental illness stayed in one of the pods at Hillingdon. Prior to staying in the pods Mark had been sleeping rough. As winter drew on he feared for his health as he faced the prospect of another month sleeping outside with little more than an old, very thin sleeping bag to keep him warm.

Staying in the pods provided Mark with the freedom to interact with the other hostel guests whilst providing him with his own space.

The pods provided him with a sense of security, safely surrounded by his own belongings. Mark further noted that the feeling of having somewhere to return to at the end of the day additionally brought a sense of normality to his life. Mark told Commonweal that this reminder, coupled with the privacy of the pod, had an aspirational impact on him, reinvigorating his sense of worth, whilst providing him with an additional drive to work towards finding more permanent accommodation.