Many people who acquire a disability can’t return home until it's modified, or must find a new home. For too many people, this means waiting in hospital, rehab or aged care. A Rapid Interim Housing prototype has been designed to offer an alternative. This prefabricated, relocatable, fully accessible unit can be installed behind a family home or on other land in the community.

Many people who acquire a disability can’t return home until it's modified, or must find a new home. For too many people, this means waiting in hospital, rehab or aged care. A Rapid Interim Housing prototype has been designed to offer an alternative. This prefabricated, relocatable, fully accessible unit can be installed behind a family home or on other land in the community.

The unit is the work of the Summer Foundation, which collaborated with Oscar Building and Stretchy Tech to design and manufacture a prototype. The TAC’s Small Grants Program provided funding.

The Rapid Interim Housing unit is self-contained and has a living area, bedroom and en suite, kitchenette and laundry. Assistive technology maximises the occupant’s independence, safety and security.

The unit can be rapidly located to provide housing for someone who is waiting for accessible housing to become available or for home modifications to be completed. The unit is relocatable when no longer required.

The Rapid Interim Housing project targets people with acquired brain injury (ABI) and spinal cord injury (SCI), who are often unable to find suitable housing in the community due to their accessibility and support needs. Not returning to the community as soon as possible after an injury impacts a person’s health and wellbeing, and their ability to live independently declines quickly. Their connections with the community drop away and their mental health often suffers.

Every week, more than 50 people under the age of 65 enter an aged care facility in Australia because there is nowhere else for them to live with support. This project aims to have a long-lasting impact on the way people with disability are discharged from hospital and into the community. It also seeks to challenge perceptions of accessible housing as being dull and institutional.

Note: Due to wet weather, the 31 May to 3 June open house for the Rapid Interim Housing prototype in Geelong has been postponed.

The prototype will be displayed in Melbourne as part of Open House Melbourne weekend on 27 and 28 July.

For more information about the Summer Foundation and the Rapid Interim Housing project, visit the Summer Foundation website