Udayam – Home for Transition, Chevayur

Kirthi Suvarnan; Satheesh A. V.

Udayam, a homeless shelter project by the Kozhikode District Administration is envisaged as a crucial step towards ensuring the comprehensive rehabilitation of street dwellers or destitute and establishing a sustainable model for the developing world. Initiated during COVID 19 induced national lockdown in 2020, this project seeks to create a safe environment by providing street dwellers with equal opportunities, protection of rights, and empowerment for active community participation. Project Udayam runds under the aegis of the Udayam Charitable Society which is funded by the citizenry of Kozhikode. The facility and its day to day operation runs with the technical assistance of Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science (IMHANS at Kozhikode, an autonomous institution under the Government of Kerala (GOK).

View of the Central Courtyard © Satkriya

The site for the shelter was a one-acre land owned by the Social Justice Department, GOK and part of the larger Kozhikode District Leprosy Hospital, a historic campus that dates back to the early 20th century (See Fig). The site had four dilapidated buildings that follow a typology with small footprints and generous verandahs arranged around a court. This simple building vocabulary within an environment rich with a variety of large shade giving trees mark the essence of both the specific site and the larger campus. The architects have attempted to retain this character, adding built volume to the southwest and northeast corners and a pavilion to punctuate the entry to the facility.

Roof Plan © Satkriya

Section © Satkriya

Floor Plan: 1. Entry, 1a. Security Cabin, 2. Drop-Off to Entrry Pavillion, 3. Welcome Feature Wall, 4. 'Kaavu' - existing cluster of trees with casual seating/ platforms, 5. Social Gathering Spaces, 6. Dining Hall, 7. Pantry, 8. Kitchen, 8a. Store, 8b. Loading/ Unloading Area, 9. Washrooms, 10. Activity Area/ Breakout Courts, 11. Staff Dining Hall, 12. Female Staff Quarters, 13. Male Staff Quarters, 14. Counselling Room, 15. Doctor's Visiting Room, 16. Staff Room, 17. Wash Area, 18. Drying Yard (Staff). E1. Existing Block 1, E2. Existing Block 2, E3. Existing Block 3, E4. Existing Block 4 © Satkriya

The program developed with help from IMHANS consists of dormitories with bunk beds to accommodate 175 inmates at full capacity, observation rooms, isolation rooms, common restrooms, doctor's cabins, dining areas with service spaces like kitchen and laundry. The unbuilt spaces, including the central courtyard, are planned as part of the rehabilitation program and can accommodate classes, meetings, exercise regimens, vocational training and so on. The new facility maintains the foundations and footprint of the older buildings (except for the corner volumes) with new laterite walls and concrete pillars on which the steel truss roof system rests. The new corner volumes are kept structurally independent from the older foundations to accommodate differential settlement.

View of the Dining Hall © Satkriya

Newly constructed walkways connecting the building blocks

The good quality of construction and finishes which is not common for charity funded pro bono projects also owes to ULCCS, a co-operative with a history of doing public projects well. This project was taken on by them on a not-for-profit basis. As a project conceived under constraints of time and budget during the COVID 19 crisis, many aspects of the program had to be developed and finalized with doctors at IMHANS in parallel with construction. So, a longer and more involved design process with the stakeholders could have resulted in a better project. The relative success of design projects like these appears to be critically dependent on individuals, typically political and/or administrative leadership, which in this case was the collector, Mr. Sambashiva Rao. Individual donors like Mr. V.K.C Mohammed Koya also stepped up to ensure the project had adequate funding to be completed. It is not clear whether significant institutional intelligence was gained by the larger administrative system on how to formally involve architects, and early in the process, for public projects like Udayam. However, working with architects to conceive and develop a facility that fits their intended vision appears to be a new and positive experience for the clients, especially the public health/medical professionals. They seem to consider the result to be more successful in retaining its residents than comparable facilities for the homeless. The architects believe that the openness of the architecture and the natural beauty of the site - itself a nurturing presence - contribute to this success.