Project Overview
Completed in 2025, this headquarters office for a restorative justice organization is a 7,000 square foot tenant improvement project that establishes a dedicated home for the organization working with people involved in the justice system.
This program uses relationship-building means of resolving conflict and healing from harm, and benefits from the healing design elements of color, biophilia, curved surfaces, intentional soft lighting, and clear navigation to support staff and clients’ wellbeing and mood.
Project Details
Project: Commercial tenant improvement (7,000 sq ft)
Location: New York region
Status: Construction Completed 2025
Spaces for: Survivors, Reentry, Restorative Justice
Project & Program Partners: Barb Toews (Research), Light Follows Behavior (Lighting Consultants), Arup (Acoustical Engineers), Ombrellino Construction (General Contractor), Cooper Robertson (Design Consultant)
DJDS Team: Deanna Van Buren, Garrett Jacobs, Shannon Diamondstein, Lucia Castello, Tola Thomas
Services: Engagement and Research, Design, Construction Administration, Evaluation
Design Process and Collaboration
Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS) partnered with a restorative justice organization in 2021 to conduct research with staff, clients, and other members of their community as part of a trauma-informed design process. The virtual creative workshops and visual surveys informed the conceptual design of the spaces. DJDS was then hired to develop the design and oversee the construction and selection of furnishings and finishes for the project.
DJDS brought in global leaders in engineering, Arup, as well as lighting specialists, Light Follows Behavior, to support the creation of an environment sensitive to lighting and acoustics at no cost to the client. DJDS received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to conduct a post-occupancy evaluation of the space to better understand the impact of the environment on the wellbeing of those using the space.
Research will be conducted through 2025.
