The design of the built environment can make or break a successful transportation system. Transport for NSW and the state government architect have updated their guide to movement and place to aid practitioners. The guide aims to change some established ways of working so that we get better places and better outcomes. It outlines:
a collaborative method for practitioners, stakeholders, and the community
shared responsibility and a shared language to support collaboration
a process for implementing this approach in decisions and project types
criteria for measuring and evaluating movement and place now and in future projects
The Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place has three main sections. The introduction to the concept and implementing a place based approach cover the practicalities. The third section is more about understanding why this approach is important. The guide is necessarily technical in places and has a reference list at the end.Established working practices and standards are likely to change, according to the guide. It is asking professionals to think differently about their role in creating successful places. The toolkit includes separate sections: Aligning Movement and Place.Evaluators’ Guide to Movement and PlacePractice notes and case studiesEditor’s Note: I couldn’t find a mention of accessibility and inclusion. I assume that practitioners will make this part of the process, but that means it will likely rely on existing standards. Aboriginal custodians get a mention. And the movement and place appears to be more about infrastructure and budgets than people
Getting out and about is good for our health. We know that. But the environment has to be conducive to encourage walking and wheeling. That means streets and paths have to be designed for ease of access and walking comfort. The Walking Space Guide sets out standards to ensure sufficient walking space is provided for everyone. That includes people with disability, people with mobility limitations, families with young children and prams, and people walking dogs. The Guide sets standards for designing, planning and implementing footpaths. It sets targets for five levels of footpaths: local with low and medium activity, and main streets with low, medium and high activity. There is no standard less than 2 metres wide. There is a quick overview in a summary of the Guide. Transport interchanges or where walking is highly managed is not covered. Work on a space guide for crossings is underway.Included in the guide is a method for carrying out a Walking Space assessment and guidance on how to understand the results. There is an accompanying Excel spreadsheet for recording data and calculating results. The Guide was developed by the NSW Roads and Maritime Authority.
Universal design is a thinking process that aims for the most inclusive design solutions possible – designing universally. It is a process that improves through iteration. This means that you can’t specify a standard, which is for one point in time, because it stops the process of continuous improvement. But we don’t live in a perfect world and some people just want to know they got it right. That means they want a standard.
NATSPECis an non-profit organisation with the aim of improved construction and productivity in the built environment. The information is free but you might need to login to get access.
The NATSPEC website has along list of technical notes, which cover many construction elements. New to the list are:
Accessible Housing: Note: the Livable Housing Design Standard in the NCC was added in 2022.
These technical notes are just two pages long. They are good for quick reference and for anyone new to universal design concepts. The Accessible Housing guidance refers to the outdated Adaptable Housing Standard (AS4299), Livable Housing Design Guidelines, and the Access to Premises Standard. It was written prior to the adoption of the Livable Housing Design Standard which was updated in the NCC 2022. Related standards are also referenced.
Note: The voluntary ‘Gold’ level of the Livable Housing Design Standard equates to AS4299 without the expense.
More than one solution is sometimes required when designing for inclusion.So a “one-size-fits-all” approach can be counterproductive. It also means doing the best you can with what you have at the time with a view to improving with the next iteration.
Joining the dots between all aspects of the built environment is not easy task. So the Whole Building Design Guide is a welcome resource. It is a collaboration among stakeholders and government agencies in the US. It could be titled, Building Design as a Whole.
This web-based resource has everything you need to know. The online resource has been reformatted from the 2017 version. There are many sections and navigating the pages takes some thought. The “Gateway to Information on Integrated ‘Whole Building’ DesignTechniques and Technologies” is a good place to start. The top dropdown menu item Design Recommendations guides you to the sections.
The new format makes information about accessibility more difficult to find. The search function helps here. However, the links from the older post provide a direct link to the key sections on this topic.
The field of dementia and the design of the built environment is not well understood. Until now. Comprehensive Australian research has resulted in two volumes on the topic. The research looks at current best practice in design, and regional and cultural aspects. It also covers the importance of including people with dementia in the design process. The impact of the pandemic is another discussion point. People with dementia have the same human rights as others and that includes being treated with dignity.
The first volume is about the approach to the topic, the thorny issues, design processes and the 10 principles they developed. The second volume presents 84 case studies from around the world. A collection of day care centres, residential care facilities, and public buildings illustrate good design principles. The case studies include architectural detail and photos illustrate some of the design points.
The report launch webinar gives a good overview. Unfortunately the captions are auto-generated so they aren’t the best. However you can increase the speed and still understand the content.
Principles of dementia
Unobtrusively reducing risks: Minimise risk factors such as steps and ensure safety features are as unobtrusive as possible.
Providing a human scale: The scale of buildings can impact the behaviour of people with dementia, so provide a human scale to minimise intimidating features.
Allowing people to see and be seen: The provision of an easily understood environment will help to minimise confusion. A literal line of sight should be clear for both residents, and staff.
Reducing unhelpful stimulation: Environments should be designed to minimise exposure to stimuli that are unhelpful, such as unnecessary or competing noises and the sight of unnecessary signs, posters, spaces and clutter.
Optimise helpful stimulation: Enabling the person living with dementia to see, hear and smell things that give them cues about where they are and what they can do, can help minimise their confusion and uncertainty.
Support movement and engagement: Providing a well-defined pathway of movement, free of obstacles, can support engagement with people and opportunities.
Create a familiar place: The use of familiar building design, furniture, fittings and colours affords people with dementia an opportunity to maintain their competence.
Provide opportunities to be alone or with others: A variety of spaces, some for quiet conversation and some for larger groups, as well as spaces where people can be by themselves, gives people with dementia a choice to how they spend their time.
Link to the community: The more an environment enables visitors to drop in easily and enjoy being in places that encourage interaction, the more the sense of identity that comes from spending time with loved ones and others is reinforced.
Design in response to vision for way of life: The way of life offered needs to be clearly stated and the building designed both to support it and to make it evident to the residents and staff.
Staying home has taken on a new meaning, and for some, a priority, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But what if the design of the home environment isn’t helping, especially if you have dementia? Alzheimer’s WA has a great website with really practical information on housesand apartments. But we need to create all environments for dementia.
Of course, staying home also means staying in the community. So the neighbourhood and facilities need to be dementia-friendly too. The website also has this covered. There are sections on, Publicbuildings, Gardens, Hospitals, and Careenvironments.
Each section takes you to a floor plan with interactive buttons. Each button takes you to an illustration of a room or space, again with buttons for more information. For example, a click on a floor plan kitchen takes you to an illustration of a kitchen. Within this illustration are buttons checking off each of the design principles, such as lighting and cooking. There are PDF lists for download as well.
This website is a comprehensive virtual information centre for living with dementia. It’s useful for family members and designers alike. Some elements might be something as simple as rearranging things so they can be seen. Others might need more design know-how. A great resource.
Dementia-friendly neighbourhoods is a growing area of transdisciplinary research. But there are challenges and gaps that limit the depth of knowledge which need further research. An article from the University of Michigan outlines the issues for the built and social environments.
Neighbourhoods are multi-sensory – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Technological advances support things like wayfinding and memory in navigating environments.
The authors discuss the need for participatory methods to identify areas of need and to prioritise neighbourhood issue.
A guide to taking a universal design approach to urban planning covers just about everything. The aim of the guide is to deliver sustainable solutions and to create inclusive places. Here are some of the reasons planners should take a universal design approach:
avoids the need for wasteful and inefficient retro-fitting of solutions
informs genuinely integrated strategies for land-use, transportation and urban design
creates greater efficiencies for public infrastructure investment
widens the audience and market for development projects enhancing commercial viability
helps provide an environment in which people can age and retain their independence
Although this guide is based on planning laws in Ireland, there are many similarities to other jurisdictions. It covers, consultation, neighbourhoods, community facilities, lifetime homes, travel chain analysis, street design, car parking, economic development, wayfinding, heritage and more. There are also sample policy statements for each section.
Wayfinding requires designers to organise and communicate the relationships of space in the environment. Basically, it is the naming and marking of places, identifying destinations, and providing directional information. The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation produced a comprehensive, if somewhat technical, set of wayfinding design guidelines.
The guidelines covers basic principles, and very detailed design solutions and strategies, covering topics such as arrival point, main entry, internal arrival point, graphic communication, restrooms and toilets, lifts, and signage design. Sign legibility, system design criteria, and viewing distance to signs are all covered, plus much more. Wayfinding is a key element of accessibility for everyone. Making signs and systems universally designed for everyone requires additional thought and planning.
Signalling the right way to go has to account for cognitive abilities, visual acuity, and spatial awareness. As people age some of these abilities decline. Consequently, considering the needs of this group in wayfinding design will make wayfinding easier for everyone.
Editor’s Note: I came across a designer who didn’t want signage to interfere with the design and decided to minimise their impact. This picture shows how one designer thought that disguising signage was a good idea. Architectural wayfinding strategies minimise the need for lots of signs.
Universal design in signage placement
From the abstract
Intuition behind sign placement and wayfinding features rarely encompass the needs of a wide range of building users. To help in automating sign placement, recent research has combined the use of agent-based simulation with optimization algorithms for maximizing visibility and wayfinding throughout a building model.
As with many instances of machine learning applications, these are dominated by an assumed young, healthy, and perfectly sighted virtual human.
We present an analysis of virtual human agents exploring a digital space using a combined vision and modified A* algorithm across multiple postures and visual impairments.
We show how the inclusion of head angle and limited sights can change the results of what may be considered an optimal sign location.
A design project for a new school building shows how to make it inclusive for everyone. Architects involved users from the outset and then applied the knowledge they gained. This was no typical building because the task was to integrate two existing schools into the one building. One was a primary school and the other is described as a special school. The story is told in a video which begins with the architects talking about their approach. The video goes on to discuss all the elements they needed to consider which make this an excellent exemplar for all buildings.
Good examples of incorporating user feedback are the installation of footbaths. The area has a high Somali population who like to wash their feet before praying. Understanding that some children with autism find sharp building lines difficult influenced the curved building shapes within the building.
The placement of toilets so staff don’t have to walk the length of the building each time was another factor in the final design. Integrating overhead hoists for transferring children to and from wheelchairs so that it just looked like part of the overall design – not special.
Small details also make a difference. An interesting point was installing different tap styles because it is a learning experience for the children. And of course energy efficiency was not forgotten in the design process. Read more about this project on the Architype website.
Video explanations
A very useful and interesting video from the UK for anyone interested in design. There are few good examples of inclusive design in action so this is welcome change.
A second video shows it’s very productive to involve children in the design process. It’s too easy to dismiss them on the basis that they are too young to know much. It’s also a learning process for them too.
The picture a the top is of the courtyard in the new Willows Primary and Special School.
A case study in creating universally designed urban spaces is a good way to showcase how it is done. Universal Design: New York 2 is not a new publication, but the principles are still relevant.It provides guidance for all aspects of an urban environment as well as temporary lodging, workplace facilities and human service facilities. The guide is comprehensive covering circulation systems, wayfinding, seating, public amenities, cultural facilities, renovations and additions, and more. It also lists seven myths about universal design and shows how they are just myths:
1. There are only a small number of people who benefit 2. Universal design only helps people with disability and older people 3. Legislation for disability rights have created equality, so no need to do more 4. Improved medical technology is reducing the incidence of functional limitation 5. Universal design cannot sustain itself in the marketplace because the people who need it most cannot afford it 6. Universal design is simply good ergonomic design 7. Universal design costs even more than accessible design
The design of the built environment can make or break a successful transportation system. Transport for NSW and the state government architect have updated their guide to movement and place to aid practitioners.
The guide aims to change some established ways of working so that we get better places and better outcomes. It outlines:
The Guide sets standards for designing, planning and implementing footpaths. It sets targets for five levels of footpaths: local with low and medium activity, and main streets with low, medium and high activity. There is no standard less than 2 metres wide. 
Universal design is a thinking process that aims for the most inclusive design solutions possible – designing universally. It is a process that improves through iteration. This means that you can’t specify a standard, which is for one point in time, because it stops the process of continuous improvement. But we don’t live in a perfect world and some people just want to know they got it right. That means they want a standard. 
Joining the dots between all aspects of the built environment is not easy task. So the 
The field of dementia and the design of the built environment is not well understood. Until now. 
Staying home has taken on a new meaning, and for some, a priority, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But what if the design of the home environment isn’t helping, especially if you have dementia? Alzheimer’s WA has a great website with really practical information on 
A guide to taking a universal design approach to urban planning covers just about everything. The aim of the guide is to deliver sustainable solutions and to create inclusive places. Here are some of the 
Wayfinding requires designers to organise and communicate the relationships of space in the environment. Basically, it is the naming and marking of places, identifying destinations, and providing directional information. The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation produced a comprehensive, if somewhat technical, 
A design project for a new school building shows how to make it inclusive for everyone. Architects involved users from the outset and then applied the knowledge they gained. This was no typical building because the task was to integrate two existing schools into the one building. One was a primary school and the other is described as a special school. The story is told in a video which begins with the architects talking about their approach. The video goes on to discuss all the elements they needed to consider which make this an excellent exemplar for all buildings.
A case study in creating universally designed urban spaces is a good way to showcase how it is done.