The Globus Design Associates Blog

Designing for Accessibility from Experience

Experiencing disability at various times in my life has given me a deeper awareness of accessibility issues in my interior design practice.  For example, while trying to negotiate a "handicap" bathroom - as it was labeled before the ADA Accessibility Guidelines were in place - during a visit to a hospital as result of a skiing accident, I was surprised by how difficult it was while being in a wheelchair.

After recovering, I arranged a meeting for my colleagues in the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers so that they could personally experience various disabilities by using equipment such as blind folds, wheel chairs and crutches supplied to us by the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association to tour an educational facility.  We were impressed by the effort needed to propel ourselves from one point to another in what first appeared to be a welcoming environment.

Recently, I was escorted into the exam room shown above for a post operative check up on a foot surgery.  As you can see, there is no space at either end of this table for a doctor to stand in order to examine or change dressings on a foot in a room newly designed for this purpose. I was forced to sit sideways, dangle my legs off the table and hold my injured foot in the air.

Although I don't wish disability on my design colleagues as a learning device, I like to think that experiencing  impairment has made me a better designer. Because most of us will face some sort of impairment during our lifetimes, designers are challenged to expand accessible design into universal design or designing for all people regardless of age, gender, culture, and physical and mental capabilities. When coupled with sustainable design principles, beautiful universal design is the pinnacle of great design.  Experiencing it first hand is just one way to understand how to achieve it.

How Can Boomers Age in Place when the Place keeps Disappearing?

Evolution of a neighborhood

While driving to work recently, I saw a familiar sight in the neighborhood adjacent to my office.

Not much thought about reduce, reuse, recycle evident here. Photo: Suzan Globus

This green ranch house is one of many in a community which seemed to be perfectly poised to transition from housing young families to supplying a growing demand for modest housing by baby boomers who are retiring and seeking smaller, accessible homes where they can take care of themselves as they age.

Typical Original Homes

The homes look appropriately scaled to their lot sizes by New Jersey standards. Photo: Suzan Globus

Initial Modifications

Many of the ranch houses have been modified in various ways over the years by their owners:

The new cupola and larger windows lets light into the center of this house.  Photo: Suzan Globus

 

The owners of this ranch house added a partial second story and a more protected entrance.  Photo: Suzan Globus

This ranch sprouted a dormer and a new garage.  Photo: Suzan Globus

Current Changes

The demand for bigger homes, despite what I read in design and sustainability trade resources, does not appear to be peaking as evidenced by the growing number of large homes replacing the ranch homes in this community.

The newest addition to the neighborhood looms over the adjacent homes.  Photo: Suzan Globus

The larger  homes replacing the one story homes overpower the modest lots.  Photo: Suzan Globus

The scale of the new homes is a sharp contrast to the existing homes.  Photo: Suzan Globus

If the changes in this neighborhood are typical in the housing market elsewhere, there is a big opportunity to creatively address housing for the largest segment of the population whose demand for accessible, smaller living spaces is increasing due to added economic pressure.