Samantha Donnelly

Dr Samantha Donnelly is a lecturer in the School of Interior Architecture, leading studios on sustainable and climate responsive practices for real-life projects that deliver social impact for vulnerable communities, in particular women and children leaving domestic and family violence. 

Her PhD thesis focuses on women’s refuges in NSW: how tailored design outcomes and trauma-informed design address safety and care-practice needs for women and children leaving violence.

Samantha’s most recent project involved a collaboration with Hobart Women’s Shelter and Core Collective Architects to develop trauma-informed interiors for therapy and activity spaces. The project included a session with UTS Interior Architecture students to visit the site and develop a series of schemes to present to the Shelter for feedback.

Thanks to a UTS Shopfront Research Fellowship, Samantha developed a Design Guide for Refuge Accommodation, based on interviews with twelve urban refuges in NSW. The Design Guide has enabled further research projects with a broader audience and has impacted State publications and the recent NSW Government release of funding for new refuge buildings. Samantha is currently working with several housing and domestic and family violence organisations on trauma-informed design outcomes to seek funding.

Extending on the women’s housing theme, Samantha produced a Design Guide for Older Women’s Housing with Schored Projects (Melbourne) – a post-occupancy evaluation of housing designed for women over 45 funded by the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation which won a Gold for Research in the Good Design Award 2022.

Samantha is a member of the UTS Domestic Violence Research Network, previously a member of the UTS Domestic Violence Steering Committee with Dr Anne Summers, and has worked with the UTS Design Innovation Research Centre (DIRC) and UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC).