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Universal design in housing: making it happen

Basic access features are now mandated in the latest edition of the Australian National Construction Code (NCC). This achievement took 20 years of dedicated advocacy for universal design in housing. This was achieved against the backdrop of strong housing industry lobbying for the status quo.

A paper presented at the International Universal Design Conference, UD2022, documents the achievements brought about by people power. It follows three previous papers and could, and should, be the last chapter. But that depends on ongoing political decisions.

While the features are mandatory in the NCC, not all states are ready to adopt these changes. Also, the features are very basic and will not meet the needs of an ageing population. Hence, advocates continue their work.

At the end of my presentation at UD2022 in Italy, I had two questions that indicated disbelief that this could be for ALL housing – many thought it was just for social or special housing. Jane Bringolf.

An illustration showing facades of different styles of free standing homes in lots of colours. They look like toy houses.

The conference paper has lessons for other jurisdictions and was written by Margaret Ward with input from Jane Bringolf. The title is, Universal design in housing in Australia: An example of people power. The paper is open access from the IOS Press website.

Or you can have a look at the slides in the short PPT presentation to get a quick overview.

Abstract: This paper follows three previous ones which have reflected on the grassroots campaign in Australia to mandate a basic access standard in all new housing. The original negotiations with government and the housing industry for this reform were at first disingenuous then reluctant despite human rights obligations.

A tenacious campaign over two decades by user stakeholders, researchers, and principled housing providers finally convinced political leaders to mandate national access provisions for all new housing in the National Construction Code. The paper discusses what assisted and hampered this campaign. It then discusses why politicians eventually favoured the interests of ordinary people over the self-interests of the housing industry.

Livable Housing Design: Not our problem

Why do we keep building homes as if we are never going to grow old? A paper from 2014 illustrates that the answer is complex. But the perceptions of developers, designers and builders gives us some insights that remain today. A Brisbane study collected data from site-visits, building documents and interviews with industry stakeholders. Four key themes emerged showing attitudes remain the same: voluntary approach, otherness, immediacy, and inertia.

There is a view that people needing inclusive housing are not part of the mainstream market – they are “others”. Therefore, the answer to the problem is group homes and retirement villages. Inclusive design is assumed to be ugly and undesirable. Therefore, marketing these features will not work. Image from the gallery of Lifetime Homes in Tasmania.

Easy access inside and out of this universally designed home.

The title of the open access article is, Livable Housing Design: The voluntary provision of inclusive housing in Australia. Although published in 2014 much of the document remains current.

State of housing in Ireland

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in Ireland has found housing the most difficult area to address in terms of inclusion. A 2024 PhD thesis looks at the issues and compares them with the progress, or lack thereof, in the UK. Even with regulation, new builds in England have been found to be mediocre or poor.

Similarly to Australia, builders of small developments are adopting universal design features. However, larger housing schemes in Ireland are failing to adopt such features.

A row of houses in rural Ireland with green fields in the foreground and background. The picture looks misty.

The research findings suggest a small minority of new housing is at least functionally accessible. And even in Australia, even in states where the Standard is adopted, it is unknown if the features are actually present in new builds.

The title of the thesis: Appropriate housing choices for a whole lifetime – how accessible are new housing proposals in Ireland? Costings and worked examples are included in homes that have less floor space than the average Australian home.

Housing Design for All?

Environments that include older people include everyone else too. So it’s good to ask older people what works for them. The findings from a Helsinki study indicate that neighbourhood design, public transport and green environments influence mobility and social integration. Mainstream housing design is a key factor in supporting older people to stay within their communities.

The title of the dissertation by Ira Verma is, Housing Design for All? The challenges of ageing in urban planning and housing design – The case of Helsinki.

Front cover of the dissertation Housing Design for All.

From the abstract: The results indicate that the neighbourhood design, public transport network and proximity of green environments influence mobility and the sense of integration within a community. Moreover, the length of residency was related to the familiarity of the living environment, which gave residents a sense of security, and supported their activities of daily life. Furthermore, the results show that older residents preferred the local services that were the most accessible ones.

Universal design and perfection

A universal design approach to a project often means doing the best you can with the knowledge, skills and resources to hand. Each time you have a design project, make it more accessible and inclusive than the last. Universal design is not about perfection, or perfection for absolutely everyone. It is an ongoing iterative process.

The notion of perfection reinforces the perspective that accessibility is hard.

A blog post from CanAxess discusses the issue of perfection in digital and web design. Using the example of two people, a celebrity chef, and a special forces soldier, the article discusses “the perfection millstone around the neck”.

If digital designers have a mindset of expecting absolute perfection they will reinforce the idea that accessibility is hard. For example, headings might be incorrectly rendered on a page. For designers this is unforgivable and a “slight on those users who need that support the most”. The risk is that designers will give up and stop trying to improve digital accessibility. And then there is the anxiety, procrastination and fear of falling short.

Having high standards is a good thing, but it needs to be balanced otherwise it makes it hard to get started on a project. So, at these times, “good enough is good enough”. The advice from the blog post is to do better than yesterday and do it well.

The CanAxess website has other resources of interest:

Make video accessible

Make forms accessible

How to make chatbots accessible

Inclusive and accessible street guides

Which street guide is the best? Well, that depends on which perspective you are coming from. Urban designers, transport planners, pedestrians and drivers all have a stake in streets. Here are four inclusive and accessible street guides from previous posts for reference.

If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.
Attributed to Fred Kent

five lane city highway full of cars.. We need car free zones.

Global Designing Cities website has the Global Street Design Guide available for download. The guide has sections for designing streets for kids, and implementing street transformations. Launched in 2014, the Global Designing Cities initiative takes an international view. The website has a series of short films, and a guide for designing streets for children.

Front cover of the guide. It is blue with white text. It has outlines of pedestrians trees, buildings and transport

A Citizen’s Guide to Better Streets takes a holistic look at street design from land planning and zoning to streets as public spaces. The main concerns of traffic engineers, such as safety and function are also covered. The guide was published in 2008 but the issues are current today. It is on the 880cities.org website.

The Guide to the Healthy Streets Indicators from the UK has information and checklists in an easy to use format. It focuses on walkability without the express inclusion of people using wheeled mobility, but alludes to them. The guide covers feelings of safety, places to stop and rest, not too noisy, shade and shelter, easy to cross roads, and pedestrians from all walks of life.

Front cover of the guide to healthy streets indicators

The American Society of Landscape Architects promotes green, universally designed streets. These safely separate pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles, and public transport and use strategies to reduce reckless driving behaviour. The video below indicates the sensory overload that busy streets can create for some.

Prototype of a universally design street with separate pathways for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

Designing cities with AI: Should we?

Facelift is a new AI system that allows urban planers to redesign the look of city streets.

A FastCompany article explains how volunteers from 162 countries rated Google street images. Then the data was put through the AI process. The results were obvious – plazas are beautiful and construction sites aren’t. The next step was to create an interactive tool to generate before and after images – Facelift. Urban planners can use this tool to improve the design of existing places. But there is a question about this: is it beautification or gentrification?

The title of the FastCompany article is, AI can now design cities. Should we let it?

Autism and sensory overload

Accessible tourism: the call of the wild

Wide open vistas, mountain wilderness and crystal clear lakes attract visitors from near and afar. But the very nature of these landscapes means they aren’t easily accessible to everyone. Similarly to beach locations, this is a situation where assistive technology meets universal design. However, providing a specialised track wheelchair or beach wheelchair, for example, cannot do the job alone. It still needs an accessible travel chain.

A man in his wheelchair with the Freedom Trax attached. He is on a walking trail.

Tourist destinations in the natural environment can be inclusive if there is joined up thinking. That is, joining up service delivery and staff training with the physical environment and, at times, the addition of some assistive technologies.

Having an all-terrain wheelchair device is only one part of the tourism experience. A paper reporting on a case study of specialised mobility devices shows the importance of user testing. Getting in and out of the device, operating it, and being part of a group, all need testing for convenience and useability before they become part of the service. The authors used the principles of universal design in their study and sum up with the following:

The entire customer journey must be inclusive: toilets, parking, cafes, cable car, etc.
Transfers must be supervised by trained staff
Trails must be tested, marked and secured
Emergency procedures set up in case of an accident
Training courses for tourism service staff in the use of assistive technology
The devices are expensive and hiring might be a better option

The title of the article is, Improving the Accessibility of Touristic Destinations with an Assistive Technology For Hiking – Applying Universal Design Principles Through Service Design. The article mentions the Freedom Trax device and the video below shows the device in action. Courtesy their Facebook page. Freedom Trax is just one of similar products available.

From the abstract

Accessible Tourism focuses on the logistical attributes being accessible to all and on the process to develop accessible products and services with stakeholders. Assistive technologies have the potential to improve the accessibility destinations such as those designed for hiking.

However, their integration on the customer journey has to be designed as a service. To this end, universal design principles and guidelines should be used in the design process.

The potential and the conceptualization of applying universal design principles for tourism has been widely discussed. However, little has been done to operationalize this idea.

In this article, we demonstrate how to co-create with users an accessible tourism service using assistive technology who enables hiking for people using wheelchairs. Our main findings illustrate the pros and the cons of using and assistive technologies and the importance of considering the whole customer journey to improve the accessibility of touristic destinations.

See a related post, Taming the wilderness with inclusive design.

Brescia Declaration for Universal Design

The Brescia Declaration for Universal Design is a statement of the state of play in universal design and the need to progress the concepts further. It is written in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic which revealed the gaps in equity and inclusion. The Declaration is on the downloads page of the UD2022 conference website. Organisations that agree with the final Declaration can show their support by providing their logo.

The Brescia Declaration is underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 7 Principles of Universal Design. It is a lengthy statement with reference to national obligations related to international conventions. It promotes the inherent values of universal design in all design disciplines and provision of services, and concludes with a list of actions.

Dr Ger Craddock, Chief Executive, Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in Ireland drafted the document for presentation at the Universal Design Conference in Brescia, Italy – UD2022. Image of rural Brescia

A hilltop view over the city of Brescia showing low rise apartment buildings sitting nestled in the surrounding hillsides.

CUDA believes we have moved beyond the 7 Principles to a shared view of design based on co-design processes. We present a short plain language version of the call to action and a list of principles. Organisations can adapt this version for their own policy statements.

A call to action

For a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable world, and for the benefit of all, we call for collaborative action based on a universal design approach.

Principles for embedding a universal design approach

Apply co-design methods in all design disciplines and all aspects of human activity
Embed a universal design framework for all policy making and policy guidance
Embed the concept of universal design in all procurement processes
Promote the concept of population diversity to minimise exclusion and marginalisation
Engage a diverse range of users in design processes from the outset of all projects
Develop performance based standards in disciplines that rely on regulations
Promote a culture of inclusion by integrating universal design into compliance commitments and requirements
Ensure that universal design principles work effectively with the aims of sustainability
Invest in research and development of equitable and affordable products and services
Embed universal design in all education programs and disciplines
Promote universal design in learning (UDL) in all aspects of teaching and learning
Embed the ethics of equity and inclusion in school-based learning
Provide equitable access to all services including digital services
Respond to changing needs and insights with flexibility
Invest in workforce training and education on why a universal design approach is important
Apply universal design across the lifecycle of all projects and ongoing management.

Papers from the 2022 conference are open access and ready for download from the conference website.

Universal Design, Architects and CPD

Taking a universal design approach to architectural practice requires a change in attitudes in architectural education. Continuing professional development (CPD) is one way to achieve this. A joint project by the University of Limerick and the IDeA Center at Buffalo resulted in some recommendations and guidelines to help.

Recommendations were derived from engagement with Irish and international professionals, educators and client bodies. A key finding was the need for new CPD in universal design that goes beyond regulations. It can have a broader value by providing information and resources to assist more creative and inclusive designs.

The title of the article is, A Review of Universal Design in Professional Architectural Education: Recommendations and Guidelines“. The article is open access.

From the abstract

There is a growing understanding of the widespread societal benefits of a universal design (UD). To achieve these benefits, architectural professionals must have the knowledge and skills to implement UD in practice. This paper investigates UD in the context of recent architectural education. It traces changing attitudes in the culture of architectural education, and the evolving perception of UD as an important aspect of architectural practice. Specifically, continuous professional development (CPD) can advance knowledge of UD within a human-centred design paradigm.

Architecture students’ attitudes to universal design

The attitudes of architecture students to universal design is the focus of a Deakin University study. It builds on previous work (Design 4 Diversity) in 2010 on inter-professional learning for architecture and occupational therapy students. The findings of this latest study show that while architecture students viewed access to public environments favourably, there was a mixed response in relation to private homes.

Reasons not to include universal design features in homes included cost, client desires and restrictions on creativity. For example, “Legislation restricts design, resulting in negative impacts the ‘requirements’ did not intend”. These reasons are not referenced in evidence and indicate an attitudinal bias.

The study used a quantitative approach and applied statistical techniques to the data. The first part of the document covers the history of universal design, and there is an extended section on methods and statistics. For followers of UD, the Discussion section is of most interest.

The authors of Students’ Attitudes to Universal Design in Architecture Education, are Helen Larkin, Kelsey Dell, and Danielle Hitch. Journal of Social Inclusion, 2016.

Similar papers

See also Hitch, Dell and Larkin from Deakin University, who also review some of the related literature. The title of the article is, Does Universal Design Education Impact on the Attitudes of Architecture Students Towards People with Disability? Published in the Journal of Accessibility and Design for All.

Researchers from the University at Buffalo presented their research on the incorporation or otherwise of universal design in architectural education at the 3rd International Conference on Design Education Researchers. “Universal Design in Architectural Education: A U.S. Study” was published in The Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference for Design Education Research Vol 2, which has many other articles on the topic of design education.

Ramps were denied at a museum

Heritage values are sometimes used in many places to prevent workable access solutions to older buildings. A paper from Italy discusses the issue of pitting two different values against each other – heritage and accessibility. The complex museum structure at the Church of San Salvatore in Brescia is used as a case study where ramps were denied at a museum.

Similarly to contemporary projects, when ancient buildings are opened up to the public for the first time, accessibility should be considered first, not when the complaints come in. The authors conclude, “… accessibility to culture and cultural heritage is to be understood as synonymous with democracy and sustainability”.

A view of the interior of the museum showing painted walls and a long arched corridor. — Santa Giulia Museum, Brescia

External view of the Church of San Salvatore- a light coloured three story building with a square tower. — Church of San Salvatore, Brescia

The title of the paper is, “Does Pure Contemplation Belong to Architecture? The Denied Ramps at the Church of San Salvatore in the Santa Giulia Museum in Brescia”. The paper was presented at the 6th International Universal Design Conference held in 2022. Authors are Alberto Arenghi and Carlotta Cocoli. The full paper is open access and can be downloaded from IOS Press Ebooks.

You can also access all other published conference papers for this conference.

From the abstract

This paper addresses the issue of balancing the two values underlying the accessibility and conservation of cultural heritage: its use and its protection. These values are often, wrongly, regarded as opposites, or as incompatible. The reason for this contrast originates in the way ancient architecture is understood and in the value of the relationship between architecture and people.

We present a case of the Museum of Santa Giulia in Brescia, a multi-layered complex that preserves evidence ranging from the prehistoric to the contemporary age.

The failure to build access ramps offers an opportunity to reflect on the need for better integration between different approaches. We refer to recent reflections in the field of conservation carried out in Italy related to accessibility to cultural heritage.

Creative bathroom designs

Todd Brickhouse’s Newsletter has some interesting pictures of creative bathroom designs. All are wheelchair accessible and look really good.

While these designs are great for wheelchair users, there are others who might find these designs tricky to use. A case in point is a cantilevered sink against a glass wall. Maybe in real life it doesn’t trick the eye as much. However, I wouldn’t classify these designs as universal design. The sink might confuse anyone with perception problems. Have a look and see what you think.

What the pictures clearly show is that accessible and universally designed bathrooms can look good. There is no limit to creative design. Of course, a custom design for your own home should work for you if not others.

This newsletter also has a picture of a man who got a tattoo of a cochlear implant on his head to make his daughter feel more comfortable with hers.

Todd also has a magazine. He is based in New York.

Co-designing bathrooms with older people

How do you know what older people want in their bathroom design? Simple. Ask them. And have lots of Post It Notes handy. Having a more flexible and safer bathroom at home is one of the keys to ageing in place. Knowing “what’s best” is not necessarily in the hands of design experts or health professionals. Co-designing bathrooms with older people is a better option.

The Livable Bathrooms for Older People Project investigated and evaluated all aspects of bathroom design, fixtures and fittings. The report details how the project was conducted, the role of participants in the process, and the outcomes of the research. There are many explanatory pictures demonstrating the process. The report is available on ResearchGate, the UNSW Library list, or can be purchased from Google Books.

The Co-Design research was carried out by Associate Professor Oya Demirbilek. The Co-Design Sessions Lead Investigator with assistance from PhD Students Alicia Mintzes, Steve Davey and Peter Sweatman. University of New South Wales. 2015.

Note: The picture is of the renowned public toilet in Kawakawa New Zealand. It would be very confusing for someone with perception issues. Editor’s photo.

5 ways to improve accessibility of cities

Richard Voss reminds us that all of us are ageing all the time. Consequently, we need to think ahead in the design of our cities. He makes a good point that by the time the ink dries on new access codes they are already out of date. His 5 ways to improve accessibility of cities are based on universal design principles. These don’t date, they evolve.

First, he recommends providing incentives to include universal design features in housing. As we know, this mitgates major renovations, especially at a time when you can least cope. Lifemark in New Zealand has the answers here.

Second, Voss says we have to wake up to the fact that we all need universal design. He points out that accessibility is not all about wheelchairs.

Third, we should combine common sense with building codes. Here Voss talks about merging universal design with heritage codes.

Fourth, create a new innovation industry around accessibility. Voss says we should get universal design embedded in the retrofit of buildings. It will make them more sustainable and resilient as well as accessible.

Fifth, set achievable targets for each development sector. Discussions around inclusion affect every sector: workplaces, retail, hospitality, transportation, etc. Links between disciplines are essential.

Voss concludes that universal design has no extra cost if implemented early in the design process. Unfortunately, not many people believe this because from past experience, change usually means extra cost.

The article by Richard Voss was posted on Linked In.

Social value of good design

It’s so much easier to measure outputs than outcomes. Social value is an outcome, but how do you measure it? Well the answer for most is, it’s too hard so don’t bother. The Fifth Estate features an article about why the building industry should measure the social value of good design.

The Women’s Property Initiatives in Melbourne provide housing for women and children. They have a system where tenants pay no more than 30 per cent of their income in rent. They knew this was working because they could see improved wellbeing. But how do you measure this social value in money terms?

So, what is social value? It is “the quantification of the importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives”. Using stated preferences methods in research is a similar idea.

Emma Williams argues for the building industry to broaden the way they measure the success of a project. If we are to address social inequities, we have to give equal weight to social value. Measuring financial and environmental impacts is only part of the job.

The title of the article is, The difficult task of measuring social value in the built environment.

The Women’s Property initiative found that for every dollar invested, $11.07 of social value was created. Architects can work out the economics of green standards, but not social impact. Success of a project is about the people – that means social value.

Author: Jane Bringolf