Housing for Life Guidelines

Front cover of handbook showing a drawing of a house. Housing for Life Guidelines.Although more than ten years old, the Housing for Life Guidelines still have value That’s because universal design principles are timeless. There’s the usual attention to access, circulation spaces, and fittings. It also includes thermal comfort, security, lighting, operating controls and maintenance. Lots of diagrams and drawings help with explanations from a builder/designer perspective. There is also a handy metric conversion chart for people still using imperial measures. Master Builders Association ACT developed the guide with funding from Commonwealth Department of Veteran Affairs.

Other handbooks include:

Go to the Housing Design Guidelines section on this website for more about kitchens, bathrooms, lighting and other aspects of home design.  

Editor’s Note: Housing for Life is not readily available online. The link to this copy is from my files.  It is available through the National Library of Australia (Trove) if you want hard copy. Or you can try the MBA ACT.  The references to the Adaptable Housing Standard are less relevant now – see more recent guidelines.

Universal Design in Housing

Front cover of book showing lots of different sized and coloured cubes stacked. The title banner is in dark yellow For anyone not familiar with the movement for universal design in housing, Introduction to Housing has a chapter that gives a really good overview of how to incorporate UD into the design. It covers each of the design features and explains that they can be factored into moderately sized homes. The chapter addresses each of the classic principles of universal design and how they apply to housing design. A case study illustrates the features. As with many Google Books, many of the pages are freely available, but for the full chapter you will need to contact the authors, Hartje, Ewen and Tremblay or purchase the book.

Introduction to Housing, 2nd edition, is edited by Katrin B. Anacker, Andrew T. Carswell, Sarah D. Kirby, Kenneth R. Tremblay. 

A tiny house can be accessible

Inside the Wheel Pad showing the bedroom with a colourful quilt on the bedInhabitat website has a feature about the Wheel Pad. The 200 sq ft (18.5 sqm) residence is designed to be an add-on to an existing home. It comes on a trailer and stays on the wheels. This means it can be taken away again if the “house” isn’t needed any more. The original idea arose out of a need to incorporate someone after an accident and needed a wheelchair for getting around.

The explanatory  video on this website is almost ten minutes long, but well worth the watch. It covers the design process, the features, and finally two wheelchair users who visit and give their feedback about the design. This idea could be adapted in Australia as long as the existing home has a yard big enough to take it. They claim it can be built in a day. A must see for anyone involved in providing home modifications. Also suited to bringing a parent close to home.

Editor’s note: I found the trial by the two wheelchair users at the end very informative. The ramp was a bit steep and long so they used the wooden rails to pull themselves up (splinters were mentioned). One had difficulty coming over the threshold. They discussed what worked and what might not and how things could be changed to suit.

Livable Housing Design Guidelines v4

Front cover of Livable Housing Design Guidelines v4Livable Housing Australia has redesigned their website information related to the Livable Housing Design Guidelines v4. Gone from the front page is the pdf book style of their fourth version. Replacing it is a stripped-down online version focusing on the three levels in the original guide. There is more emphasis on the expanding Supported Disability Accommodation (SDA) housing market and recruiting housing assessors. 

November 2024 update: The Livable Housing Australia website appears to be offline. However, the Guidelines are hosted here and can be downloaded. 

For more housing design guidelines go to the Housing Design Guidelines section of this website.

Some History: 

The original idea was to have the Guidelines applied to all new housing by 2020. However, it is difficult to apply voluntary guidelines in an industry governed by mandatory building codes and standards. These Guidelines were endorsed by COAG and are cited in government policy documents. Note the spelling of Livable is particular to these guidelines as a brand name by Livable Housing Australia.

The Livable Housing Design Guidelines are a great resource for individuals, builders and building design professionals. It advises what to consider in home design to make it more comfortable, easy to use regardless of age or level of ability. Not all homes will be able to apply all the good ideas. However, doing what you can is a good start for both occupants and visitors alike.

The House that Chris Built – his story

Chris Nicholls house Chris Nicholls discusses the design and construction of his family home from the perspective of a wheelchair user.  He explains why some design features, which are often referred to as disability features, are not necessarily needed by every wheelchair user or person with disability. He also explains which features were important and why. His story shows why we need to mandate basic access features so that people like Chris don’t have to fight the builder all the way. Too many times the builder thought “near enough was good enough”.

The slideshow presentation has many instructive photographs.  You can also download the transcript of his presentation: 

Chris Nicholls Transcript Word    Chris Nicholls Transcript PDF  

Universal Housing Design Guidelines from Landcom

Front cover of the Landcom universal design Guidelines showing a woman at a front door holding a small girl and holding a boy close to her side. Universal housing design guidelines.The Landcom Universal Housing Design Guidelines were published in 2008, but the information is as relevant today as it was when first published. The designs were well researched and there are sample plans for all types of dwellings. The design process included costing the features. They found that if these features are considered at the outset of the design, the additional cost is minimal. 

You can download  the Universal Housing Design Guidelines as a Handbook or quick reference Factsheet. Apart from key design features it has a section on model houses – single and double storey detached homes. These Guidelines formed the underpinnings of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines (Silver and Gold levels) in 2012.

2023 Update: Many of the features in these guidelines are in the National Construction Code and will take effect from October 2023. Most jurisdictions have agreed to adopt the Livable Housing Design Standard. As of December 2022 NSW, and WA said they will delay their adoption. 

Note: the Landcom Guidelines are difficult to find on the Landcom website. They have been archived in Trove (The National Library of Australia).