Trauma-Informed Design at Parrott Creek

Parrott Creek Child & Family Services – an 80-acre creekside facility in Portland, Oregon – support's some of Portland's most vulnerable community members: children and families caught up in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. What began a farmhouse and ranch program to help kids “get away from it all” has grown into a robust organization offering expertise in a diverse array of programs and services that help children and families stabilize their lives, identify their strengths and develop life-long skills that support their success, all the while making our communities safer, healthier and more nurturing for all of us.

Inspired by Parrott Creek's mission and its own ongoing effort to re-imagine and improve its 80-acre site, this interdisciplinary studio will explore notions of trauma-informed design as a methodology for forward-looking design interventions. The studio's inquiry will include research, engagement with the Parrott Creek community and site, strategic planning scenarios and ultimately design of planning-scale, site-scale and building-scale proposals.