Dr. Travis Hicks (Interior Architecture) received new funding from XDS, Inc., for the project “Penny Lane Farm.” Kristen Raizada is co-principal investigator for the project.
The project will design three “tiny house” prototypes for The Farm at Penny Lane in Pittsboro, North Carolina, a working farm that provides horticulture therapy to adults with mental illnesses. According to Hicks, the house prototypes are helping shape the design of a tiny house village that will house mental health clients in dire need of affordable housing in North Carolina.
“The prototype designs done by Travis and his students will serve as the basis for the 15-home village planned at The Farm at Penny Lane, a therapeutic farm that serves people living with chronic mental health conditions served by UNC’s Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health,” said Thava Mahadevan, Director of Operations for UNC’s Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health and Director of The Farm at Penny Lane.