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Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Experiential Branding
Wayfinding Consulting
Described as a “tiny home village just outside of Austin, Texas,” Community First! Village represents an unprecedented and ongoing success story in addressing homelessness in Central Texas. Originally situated on 27 acres of vacant land with a dubious past (it had been used as a dumping ground for stolen vehicles), its footprint has rapidly expanded to 51 acres with two additional sites in the works.
The community, which opened in 2015, is made up of tiny homes, RVs, and 3D-printed houses for formerly homeless residents. The wayfinding program comprises simple form factors with heavy timber supports evocative of existing common area structures. Resident-produced decorative tiles cap the structures and the palette reflects the brand colors of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, the parent organization.
We also worked with staff to develop design and implementation standards that allow them to largely maintain the system themselves. The system not only welcomes and orients visitors and family members to the community, it assists up to 200 volunteers each day self-navigate to parking and key destinations for engaging with residents.
“fd2s was a fantastic partner on our project. Our organization had very complicated wayfinding needs and fd2s was curious and attentive to our unique challenges. The Experience Audit they performed was really beneficial in helping us better articulate what problems we were trying to solve. They collaborated with us to craft a solution that met our budget, working closely with vendors to simplify details without compromising durability and function. We have gotten lots of great feedback on the wayfinding system and it has greatly improved the community experience!”
— Sarah Satterlee, Director of Architecture and Site Development, Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Photos courtesy of Rachel Kay.