Design for Everyone, Disabled or Not
January 7, 2007
National Perspectives By Lisa Chamberlain
St. Louis, MO – SHARON M. BROWN cried tears of joy the first time she took a
shower without assistance in her new apartment. She had not been able to do
anything more by herself than take sponge baths since she was hit by a
drunken driver six years ago, further complicating the multiple sclerosis
that had been diagnosed years earlier. For someone who had once hiked 100
miles of the Appalachian Trail, she never thought taking a shower would be
such a milestone.
Ms. Brown’s apartment building which has bathrooms that are accessible to
people in wheelchairs, including roll-in showers is a milestone itself. The
building, 6 North, opened in March 2005, and it was the first large-scale
residential building in the country where all the units were built using
what are called universal design principles.
While building codes set a minimum standard regarding accessibility,
universal design is a relatively new concept that seeks to go beyond those
codes to make the built environment usable by all people without the need
for adaptation. This might include kitchen islands with adjustable-height
countertops, front-loading washers and dryers, roll-in showers, and no-step
entrances, eliminating the need for ramps.
But the important point, according to universal design advocates, is that it
looks and feels like a normal apartment building. Rather than relying on
designs that can segregate people according to their disability (impaired
vision versus low mobility, for example), the intent of universal design is
to create products and environments usable by as many people as possible,
including people with no disabilities at all.
According to the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State
University, universal design is increasingly available, but few if any other
large-scale buildings have used the concept throughout an entire building.
The term “universal design” was coined in 1989 by the architect Ron Mace,
who developed a set of seven principles, like “low physical effort” and
“simple and intuitive use.” Mr. Mace founded the center, in Raleigh, before
he died in 1998 to further develop and integrate the principles into
everyday life.
Colleen Starkloff and her husband, Max, who was paralyzed in a diving
accident as a young man, wanted to build a national model of universal
design. Through Paraquad, a nonprofit organization they formed in 1970, they
had been searching for a developer who would undertake a universal design
project. It was 2003 when Richard D. Baron, the chairman and chief executive
of McCormack Baron Salazar, a nationally known builder of mixed-income urban
developments, contacted them with what he thought might be a potential site
for the project.
“He called me and said: I think I have a good site. How many units do you
want to be universal design?’ I said: Richard, I want all of them to be
universal design. That’s the point: universal.’ And he kind of hesitated and
said, O.K., we’ll make it work.’ “
Mr. Baron hired Andrew Trivers, founding architect of Trivers Associates, to
create a mixed-use environment for nondisabled people as well as people with
a wide range of disabilities.
The building, in a St. Louis neighborhood called the Central West End, is 95
percent leased, with only 20 units occupied by people with disabilities,
which is fine by Ms. Starkloff. “The whole point is integration,” she said.
For Jacqueline Benoit, integration meant more than living next door to
people without disabilities, but being able to live with and take care of
her son Johnathan again. Ms. Benoit was on her way to work four years ago
when a driver struck her car. After six months of intensive care, she was
able to breath on her own again. But the accident left her partially
paralyzed, and she was sent to nursing homes for three years while her son
stayed with relatives.
Ms. Benoit and Johnathan, now 7, moved into a two-bedroom, two-bath
apartment in 2005, which includes subtle design features like door handles
instead of knobs for easier grasping, a dishwasher and oven that are set
into the wall and raised about 18 inches off the ground (a usable height for
people standing and sitting), and a stove with control knobs in front of the
unit rather than toward the back.
The design features make life more manageable for Ms. Benoit, but the
building also offers something for Johnathan. “He loves the weight room,”
Ms. Benoit said. “We go together and I work on my arm. I’m happy to be alive
and be able to take care of my son.”
Before designing 6 North, Mr. Trivers had never used universal design
principles, but now he is a convert. “This is the future,” he said. “People
are living longer and because of health care technology, they aren’t dying
from accidents and disabilities the way they used to. So the question is,
how do you design so it doesn’t look like it is for or is only usable by
someone with a specialized need?”
Richard C. Duncan, the senior project manager for the Center for Universal
Design, said: “Most people think U.D. is a term that is synonym with
accessible design. But it has this other element that is different: a social
equity component. That is an invisible part of the product.
“So, for example, a ramp is very difficult to integrate into the design of a
building,” he continued. “We advocate for entrances that are step free, that
everyone can use, whether you have a problem with stairs or you’re just
carrying packages.”
Mr. Duncan toured 6 North when it opened with other disability advocates and
developers, and said the building was serving as a model. “And that is
progress because what we don’t want are one-off projects, but full
integration,” he said.
Most “handicapped accessible” buildings, he also pointed out, have two
different apartment designs: “normal” units and accessible units for people
with disabilities. “And neither are in fact very user friendly,” he said.
“The point of universal design is integration of design principles into all
aspects of the built environment so as not to be obvious for one or
another.”
For instance, at 6 North, what looks like interior decoration is actually
intentionally contrasting colors to allow people with limited vision to
navigate the space. In the hallways, carpeting in front of apartment
entrances is darker to signal the door’s location. Next to each entryway is
a small shelf, which looks like a nice design detail but is also a handy
spot for people to put down mail or packages while they open the door. This
is, of course, equally convenient for a parent carrying a baby or people
with partial paralysis.
Jacquelyn Kish is one such person with partial paralysis, the result of a
brain aneurysm and stroke she suffered 18 months ago. She moved into 6 North
recently in order to resume rescuing injured or abandoned animals, which she
was forced to give up when she was in a nursing home and lost her house as a
result.
“I was told I shouldn’t leave the nursing home until I could walk,” Ms. Kish
said while petting one of her rescued cats. “But I was determined to live on
my own again. I can do that here.”
As for Ms. Brown, living independently is more important than having hiked
on the Appalachian Trail. “Being able to take care of yourself you don’t
appreciate that until you’re told you can no longer do it,” she said.
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/realestate/07nati.html
PASS Project is coming to its end in a form that has been known until now. We hope that the ongoing campaign will influence its continuation in some other way of funding but still satisfying the needs of present and future users and their PAs.
