Accessible Design: Space Planning
Updated February 16, 2024
This article visits my first full home accessible design project, and it was in a condo in the West End of Vancouver. The client wanted have an accessible design for the renovation of her residence so that she can “age in place” and be able to manuver their wheelchair equipment in a standard condo. This is usually a very personal journey for a client with very specific targets to achieve. In fact this project inspired me work the on 4th edition of the Kitchen and Bath Planning Guidelines with Support Spaces and Accessibility, a publication of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. This allowed a group of 9 subject matter experts to include accessible design guidelines and principals to the 4th edition. To set an accessible design standard for the kitchen and bath design industry which they each represent.
There are 5 articles in this series I posted in 2014. This article provides accessible design examples as a type of case study to covers all the considerations for accessible design of the built environment in residential interior design projects for space planning bathrooms, kitchens, support spaces and hallways. The hard lessons that I learned with this project and applied in the work with the guidelines led to some international recognition as a Top Innovator of 2022.
An Accessible Home: Space Planning
Small spaces are always a challenge to design and they're even more of a challenge when the client is in a wheelchair. This is why space planning is the first and most important task in accessible design. It is where you provide proof that a residential accessible design will work the way that it is supposed to. For this project, it was all about the clients needs - and those needs have taken a better part of a year to plan in detail (2013). Now that we're moving into construction, I figured I would share with you what I've been planning. Let me take you through the preliminaries of this project.
The Existing Floor Plan
The existing layout hasn't been touched since it was planned in the late 1980's when three lawyers got together to develop this bit of real estate. It is truly amazing that this client, who has built her own custom wheelchair accessible home before, has made it through the last 15 years in this home. This is her chance at more independent living and I am so thrilled to be a part of her life change.
The New Floor Plan
This is a strata condominium and there are certain things we can not change. Plumbing drains and some electrical must remain where they are, but it doesn't mean that they couldn’t be more accessible. The most dramatic change is in the kitchen and at the entrance of the suite. Widening the approach will make the main entry a wheelchair accessible hallway width which is going to allow the client to actually greet her guests, turn around, and lead them into her home. The master bathroom is completely changing so that the client can enter and take her own time. It is this level of detail, and thoroughness in a floor plan which is what you need to hire a well-trained, experienced interior designer for. For this client, it was important for the high functioning areas of the home - the kitchen and bathroom - to be well planned so she can do her crafts and serve tea to her friends.
The New Accessible Kitchen Floor Plan
Yes, this is a real Kitchen Floor Plan - a PROFESSIONAL one. Every single detail is fully accounted for and even the wheelchair clearances are fully noted. Sometimes it is important to have an anthropomorphic representation of the client and in this case the wheelchair is to scale and the turning radius is fully shown to ensure that clearances are met. For the sake of full communication with everyone, all the wheelchair approaches are noted on the floor plan. Clients pay for a certain level of detail in order to understand how they are going to function in the space, and even though every client is different the minimum detail is only a start of what we truly need to communicate through the remainder of the interpretive drawings.
This means that there will be a wheelchair accessible kitchen sink height that works for her physical dimensions that works with the wheelchair accessible counter height and depth. This is an excellent example of an accessible kitchen design layout for a small space. There are many ways to approach a space to design for accessibility, it just depends upon the long term goals of the client and their specific needs.
The Bathroom Floor Plan
In our residential accessible bathroom design we opted for a roll-in accessible shower with intense opposition from the client. It took the physiotherapist, me, and a mobility specialist to illustrate the challenges of a bathtub versus the roll-in shower with a commode. This option provides for a rain shower head above and the heated flooring ensures that circulation is not lost or affected in the shower. The build-up for this bathroom will need to be feathered out slowly through the entire floor plan.
To complement this there will be a wheelchair accessible bathroom sink with the lighting and storage designed at the right height. I will discuss this in greater detail in another article for this series.
A residential wheelchair accessible bathroom will be a huge change in daily activity for this client and will revolutionize her life. I hope this accessible design example illustrates the different opportunities
The Material Board
Water colours were the inspiration for this space and we started with the wood-grain tile throughout because the colour, cost, and installation were a major factor. I wanted to ensure that the weight of the wheelchair wasn't going to void a warranty of a hardwood floor and that is exactly what ended up happening in our material selection. With generous help from FloForm Countertops, we were able to create a colour palette that is sophisticated and dramatic.
I can't wait to share more as things progress on-site.
Update: I've had a lot of shares for this post in one day, but one question I am commonly asked is what type of design software do I use for my construction drawings. It's easy: AutoCAD by Autodesk and SketchUp Pro by Trimble. I don't subscribe to drag-and-drop software because it "dumbs down" the drawing process without any added speed or benefit.
Now and then: from 2013 to 2022
When I first met the client, the same fundamentals in the design process we observed then is how we operate now - almost a whole decade later. At the time this could only be a Full-Service renovation design project with specific budget requirements. Since then, with the advancements of technology and new modes of working, we can provide this type of design service and support in a variety of ways across regions, provinces and countries. Our detailed construction drawings provide a qualified experienced contractor what they need to order and implement.
For their Fall issue; Kitchen and Bath Design News Magazine recognized Corey as a Top Innovator of 2022 for his work with the Guidelines we mentioned. He is the only Canadian or 24 designers being featured.
