Chiselet Safehouse for children

A supportive space where vulnerable children receive food, clean clothes, hygiene access, school supplies, and a quiet place to study—so they can participate in school on equal terms andgrow with dignity and confidence.

	Chiselet, Romania.		ROM 001
	900 mts.2		Started: November 1, 2024.
Phase	Ongoing.	Type	Safecare living.
Target Group	Children.	Partner	Nordic Office of Architecture.
Client	Human Kind.	Donor	.
	.

1. Observe.

Why, context, challenge.

Education in Romania Various Challenges

In Romania, education is free, but many Romani children face barriers to full participation. Basic needs like food, clothing, hygiene, school supplies, and a quiet place to study are often unmet. Without these, it’s hard to concentrate, feel safe and included, and keep up in school—making education effectively out of reach for many marginalized Romani children.

Architecture For Health And Well-Being

By making the right design choices, architecture can support self-development, care, safety, belonging, inclusion and health. Focusing on these principles, we help create environments that go beyond function to actively enhance well-being and quality of life. This is based on a knowledge-based study on the importance of physical surroundings in purpose-built Child Welfare Service buildings.

human:kind

human:kind is a micro-aid organization that helps children in Romania, specifically in a small village called Chiselet. Here, they support a children’s center that provides food, clothing, hygiene, and schooling for the children. The goal is to help them complete their education; it is their only hope for a way out of poverty. Most of these children would not have the opportunity to attend school without the help of the center. The children often come from very dysfunctional family situations and are exposed to severe neglect. Therefore, one of the most important things we can give the children is hope. The goal is to build a safe home for children living in insecurity.human:kind is politically and religiously independent, and have three main principles: “We must be transparent, we must make it easy to help, and 100% of what we collect must go to the cause.”

2. Identify.

Who, target, user, facts.

16 kids og 2 families can live in the place initially

100

60 kids can revceive food every day. Total a 100 people in the community can use the building for eating, studying or community events.

7 to 15 people can work in the safe house.

3. Approach.

How, strategy, interact

Children’s home or safe house for children facilities need to provide flexible and functionally robust environments that give a sense of security. To stimulate socialization and security, we are creating an optional level of social interaction and we are reflecting it in the floor plans.In this way, we create different ‘types’ of room areas that gradually provide opportunities for community exchange and interaction.

4. Design.

Programmering, development, co-create.

We believe in the design based in a structural grid system. This grid serves as the backbone of the building, ensuring consistency and adaptability.It allows us to organize spaces efficiently while maintaining structural integrity. By scaling up or down the design we can adapt to various urban or rural contexts and accommodate larger or smaller user groups, If that will be the case in the future. By this approach the core program remains intact. Common areas are designed to be open and inviting, promoting spontanious interaction and encouraging connection and collaboration. The building can evolve over time to meet changing needs. and reorganize.

UP-CYCLING LOCAL MATERIALS & USE OF WOOD

Upcycling by sourcing local materials reduces our carbon footprint, gives the chance to create new textures and enjoy conceive different colours.Wood as interior cladding will give a natural feel to the paces and is important part of creating an healing invironment. Prefab modules and or cladding can be used in this project.

FLEXIBEDROOMS

Flexibedrooms in a grid gives the possibillity of using them in different ways and change with time.

Meeting with Human.kind

11/24

Deliver feasibility studies

04/25

Site bought!

06/25

Sketch project delivered

11/25

Who participate

Paola Bornaschella

Architect - Design Director - paola@augnorge.org

Paola holds a master’s degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Paola has a solid experience in architectural design across all phases and scales—from small private buildings to large, complex projects such as masterplans, healthcare facilities, and multifunctional buildings. Paola is a founder, the current design director, and board member of AUG. She is passionate about social architecture. Guided by the belief that architecture is a powerful tool for social change, she advocates for inclusive design that fosters safety, dignity, and equal opportunity—especially in communities where it's needed most.

Yuliia Hryshai

Civil Engeneer - Technical Engineer - yuliia@augnorge.org

Yuliia holds a degree in civil engineering from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture in Ukraine. Before the outbreak of the war, she worked as a technical draftsman in a construction company, contributing to projects involving both new constructions and the rehabilitation of existing structures. Her main responsibilities included preparing technical and architectural drawings in AutoCAD and developing BIM models using Revit. Yuliia is now part of the team at Architects Without Borders (AUG) Norway, where she actively contributes to socially oriented projects in the fields of construction and architecture.

Eli Iren Undlien

Architect

Camilo Calderon

Architect

Lucia Borg

Architect

Lise Lotte Meiner

Architect - Project Achitect - lise@augnorge.org

Lise Lotte holds a degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture and Design in Trondheim with additional studies in Copenhagen. Lise Lotte has an solid experience from all phases in a project and has worked with a wide collection of projects - from housing to schools and cultural buildings. She has also been teaching architecture for 5 years and been a sensor in the master program at the Faculty of Architecture and Design in Trondheim for many years. For the last 15 years Lise Lotte has worked with health projects, hospitals and psychiatric wards. She is particularly focused on the use of materials and detailing that support solid solutions and spaces that have a health-promoting effect in terms of light, connection to nature, materiality and hierarchy in rooms.

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A safe home for children living in insecurity

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