Everybody, Everybody
In addition to practicing interior design, I also teach interior design and I’ve got some pretty great, talented, bright, and smart students. One of the projects we are working on right now is based on understanding and implementing the rules of Universal Design. This concept can completely change the way you view buildings. It’s a design philosophy that focuses on accessibility of space to all people regardless of age, health conditions, disabilities, and other factors. There are seven basic principals for Universal Design, these are ideas that can be applied to all kinds of things and experiences including websites and handheld tools. These ideas can be incorporated into your home too, regardless of whether or not you or a loved one is disabled. These principals create spaces that are of maximum flexibility, functionality, and can support you through life’s ups and downs. This topic affects everyone. It’s super easy to get injured while playing sports or just traversing the streets of New York City, and all of sudden finding yourself using crutches. Or maybe you’re like me and on the shorter side, so the idea of reaching the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet on a regular basis is not practical. I am by no means a disabilities or legal expert, but I do design spaces that strive to be fully inclusive for all people. So today, we are going to look at Universal Design and how you can incorporate it into your home.
But first let’s talk about the color of the week. The movie Uncut Gems has been bought up in conversation recently, but do we all know the stone thats getting so much airtime? In the film, a rare black opal is center of attention, and assigning a single pantone color to an iridescent source that shifts in the light can take away from its magic. So the Color of the Week is Black Opal, the real star of Uncut Gems. You can bring this eye catching collection of pastels into your home with any item that uses iridescent glass or plexiglass. Or try using a iridescent film on top of a mirror to make everyday feel like you’re living in Euphoria. Solyx’s Dichromate Static Cling film will do just the trick. Apply this film on glass walls for a really edgy look.
The Universal Design Seven Principles are as follows:
Equitable Use - meaning the design works for a diverse range of people
Flexibility in Use - it accommodates a wide range of preferences and abilities
Simple and Intuitive
Perceptible Information - necessary information is communicated regardless of sensory abilities
Tolerance for Error - the design minimizes hazards
Low Physical Effort - nothing causes fatigue to operate
Size and Space for Approach and Use - we are going to talk about this principle the most
Universal Design is a set of guidelines or suggestions, but much of it is based on several legal precedents. You may have heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act or the ADA. This act was passed into law in 1990, and is considered one of the most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation in history. This act is divided into three sections, with the third specifically focusing on buildings. The stated goal is to “prohibit discrimination and guarantee that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else and participate in the mainstream of American life -- to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in State and local government programs and services.”
The code outlined in the ADA is a starting point, and is by no means the only text written on accessibility in the built environment. The Architectural Barriers Act or the ABA, specifically defines accessibility rules for federal government buildings in the United States. There is also the International Organization for Standards, which outlines universal design for construction beyond the US. These texts vary slightly in their prescriptions, but the goals are aligned to create built environments free of obstacles for all people.
There are many different categories of building codes for an interior designer or an architect to understand when creating a space and ADA is just one of them, of course. There are state and local fire codes, zoning codes, energy codes, and even in some states sustainability codes. It’s important to know that the design requirements outlined in the ADA are really a minimum and it’s up to every individual designer and owner to create a functional space for current and future potential users, whoever they may be. It’s also important to note that unlike other types of code like fire and energy, there is no inspection at any point in the design or construction process. Following the ADA is more or less an honor system during design and construction, with the understanding that upon completion of a building, the owner of the building can be held legally accountable if code isn’t met. Meaning if something in the building isn’t up to code, you could get sued.
What’s further is that ADA codes do not have to be followed in every instance of every building. For the most part, these requirements are for public buildings and, it’s stipulated that the requirements do not apply “where the modification or auxiliary aid or service would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods and services offered or result in an undue burden on the provider.” This verbiage leaves room for interpretation, but the big idea is that buildings built after 1990 must comply, and older buildings get more leniency. That is, until the older building gets some kind of a renovation, then ADA requirements need to be met, which is often why restorations and renovations of public buildings end up being bigger projects than expected!
I was at a new coffee shop in Brooklyn a few years back, they had just opened and I was talking to the owner who was living that small business life and doing everything himself, making drinks, stocking the pastry case, refilling the napkins, and chatting with customers like me. He said that he had to be very careful when he was updating the space because if any walls got moved or if he had added a bathroom or even renovated the basement to be a cool speakeasy like he had dreamed, it would have triggered ADA and there would be a lot of extra upgrades completed to bring the space up to code, and he just didn’t have the budget for it. So there was a lot of new paint and new furniture, not a ton of construction. It was easy to sympathize with his situation, but I often think about the experience of navigating an older city like New York as a person with a disability. Most buildings in the city were built before 1990 and so there are countless cases of inaccessibility at restaurants, subway stops, doctor’s offices, stores, offices, and schools. The moment we have to walk up or down a few steps at a classic New York stoop, squeeze through a narrow hallway, or walk up an older ramp that feels a little too steep, it’s limiting the number of people who can actually experience that space.
The other instance where ADA is not required is private residences. Home owners can use ADA as a guideline, but because many of the requirements end up increasing the square footage needed, limit certain aesthetic choices, and have associated costs, it’s easy to decide to skip it. However, if you’re considering building a new home or renovating the one you’re in, incorporating these requirements can become a major benefit and allow us age in place, be prepared for future health changes, and accommodate guests from all walks of life. When using the lens of Universal Design, we can create beautiful homes that support us through all of lifes many stages. So let’s go through just a few of the ideas that you can take from the principals of Universal Design to make your home its best.
So much of creating a Universally Designed home is about what you don’t do, starting with the moment you enter the house. Avoiding steps and level changes of any kind will immediately make your home more accessible. This isn’t just a benefit for wheelchair users, it’s true for parents with strollers, anyone with joint or muscle pain, someone using crutches, a cane, or a walker. Avoiding level changes even makes temporary situations easier like if someone is carrying a heavy box or wearing high heels. It’s without a doubt that having steps up to an elevated front porch or even just a little stoop to help accentuate the front door is charming, but what is gained by eliminating these elements is an ease of use for so many situations. That’s one of the best things about Universal Design - it’s true that wheelchair users set many of the standards, but it benefits us all.
I had a close family member who became a wheelchair user and they had to modify the entrance to their house by adding a ramp at the front door. There were about four steps to get to the door. One thing about ADA compliant ramps is there is a prescriptive slope to prevent the ramp from being too steep. Every 1 inch that the ramp goes up in space has to be dispersed over a foot long stretch of ramp. So this means if you need to go up a 2’-0” front porch, which is around four steps, that creates a 24 foot long ramp. I really love the look of integrated, well designed ramps, and I think that they can be impactful, experiential architectural elements in a space, but temporary, add-on ramps are true eyesores, especially when they have to be as long as they do. They basically end up taking a giant chunk out of your front yard. And it’s not much better than the alternative mechanical wheelchair lift which is equally unsightly, expensive, and slow to operate. All of this can be avoided if more homes were designed with universal principles in mind.
Keeping your home as a single level naturally eliminates the need for stairs inside your home, and while this isn’t always an option, think about if you had to stay on the first floor only, would you be able to do it comfortably? This might mean having a bedroom and a full bathroom with a shower on the first floor.
Accessible bathroom layouts are a little different than your average home bathroom. You may be familiar with how these look if you’ve used a fully enclosed, single occupancy public restroom, these are common at Starbucks. There are a whole set of clearance dimensions to keep in mind, allowing for a wheel chair to turn around freely, but we also see things like grab bars that assist in actually using the shower and the toilet. Grab bars are not typically the most beautiful things in a bathroom. They tend to be round, chunky, stainless steel with giant flanges that attach them to the wall, but the thickness is safe and easy to grab a hold of, where something sleeker might be challenging to grip. I talked about this in detail for kitchen cabinet hardware in the episode “Too Hot To Handle,” but it all comes down to ergonomics. There are also specific size and placement requires for grab bars, they can’t go just anywhere. So, they are utilitarian in nature and don’t leave a lot of wiggle room for design and if you don’t like the look, you can still create a bathroom in your home that meets the sizing and clearance needs and add grab bars later down the road when they are needed.
Clearances are a huge part of universal design. Providing hallways that are wide enough for a wheelchair user to make a full 360 degree turn end up being 5’-0” in diameter. It’s not uncommon for residential hallways to be 4’-0” wide or even 3’-0”, and this causes wheel chairs to have to back up out of the hallway, which can be dangerous. This 5’-0” clearance is a good number to keep in mind for spaces that tend to be more compact like next to kitchen counters and in front of doors (although door themselves can stay at their standard size of 36”). Clearances are important anywhere there is circulation, but that doesn't mean that you have to have 5 feet in between your sofa and coffee table, in clusters of furniture the best way to go is to provide a free space for a wheelchair to park so they can sit with everyone else. There's also the topic of knee clearance, which comes into consideration under countertops or tables. Having table legs that block the edge of the table prevent wheelchairs from moving freely in a space, so the more pedestal-based tables or floating cantilevered countertops you can have in your space the easier it is maneuver in a wheelchair.
Another important clearance happens on the vertical plane on the wall - avoid having anything protruding from the wall more than 4” without a piece of furniture or millwork below it. This could include, art, light fixtures, floating shelves, and mirrors. It’s easy to bump into these kinds of objects, so keep the depth shallower than 4” or prevent someone from walking to close to that portion of the wall by adding a credenza, dresser, or counter just below it.
Speaking of kitchen counters, another thing to keep in mind is reach range. For universal design shelves should be no higher than 48 inches from the floor or lower than 15 inches from the floor. Anything outside of this zone can be difficult to access. The goal with universal design is to keep the entire space accessible with low physical effort, meaning avoiding step stools or strain.
One of the downsides to providing additional clearance is that it can cause a space to look a little vast or empty, at least in comparison to what we are used to seeing. A good solution for this is to play with the texture, color, and variation of the flooring material to add visual activity and break up spaces without having an actual change in level. This could be as simple as having a contrasting color of border around the edges of the floor, or as elaborate as a unique custom in graphic design that really sets the space apart.
The more we embrace Universal Design and work to incorporate it as a standard part of our lives, the more opportunities this important style has to be developed into something truly beautiful. Do you have an accessible space at home, or know anyone who does? Let me know what you thought of this episode by writing a review on Apple Podcasts and giving the podcast a five star review, it helps others find us and keeps the podcast going. Until next time, I hope you are taking amazing care of yourself, surround yourself with joy, and I’ll talk to you soon.
