Initiated by VisionWest Community Trust, My Whare is an innovative housing response to the crisis of youth homelessness. The programme provides self-contained studio accommodation to youth who are transitioning out of care or homelessness, giving rangatahi who have had a rough start in life the opportunity for a brighter future.

For My Whare, architects at SGA have designed a series of transportable, self-contained units or whare, which will be located on the residential property of a host family. The units offer each young person connection to community through shared meals and experiences while giving them enough space to grow independently.

"We have a long-standing relationship with VisionWest," says SGA director Pat de Pont, "and we are privileged to be involved with the development of the first two prototypes for this programme."

The whare are constructed from light steel framing that is overlaid with an insulated strand board for stiffness, then clad in pre-finished corrugated steel. The interior walls are constructed from sustainably sourced European poplar plywood. "The whare are for at-risk youth," says de Pont, "who in a lot of cases have no experience of how to look after their own space. So we needed materials that would be robust and resilient without feeling institutional."

Carpet tiles donated from Advance help create an environment where young people can make a home for themselves. "The choice of tiles was recommended to us by Advance. They are quite plush for a carpet tile, with availability and colour other decision factors. We settled on carpet tiles, as they are pretty bulletproof," says de Pont. "They can be easily removed for cleaning or replaced in small quantities if they’re damaged. They can also be shuffled around to alleviate any wear issues."