Barrier-free spatial requirements

The space within a home should be determined to suit someone using a wheelchair. (These routes are also common to those who need canes, crutches or walking frames.) Dimensions and spatial requirements for wheelchairs are provided in figure 1.57. Note that this information varies between manual and electrically operated wheel chairs, the latter being considered a benchmark for further consideration.

Figure 1.49. Dimensions and spatial requirements for wheelchairs

Movement within homes requires that a minimum circulation space of 90 cm should be provided between furniture items and corridor walls. Shared corridors require a minimum width of 120 cm; and where doors open sideway, a minimum width of 150 cm is needed. See figure 1.58.

Ensure that the free space to an open doorway is at least 90 cm, In the case of double-leaf doors, ensure that at least one leaf provides the opening necessary for a push chair or wheelchair to pass through without causing difficulties and without opening the second leaf. This requirement is easiest to fulfill when double doors have asymmetrical leaves.

Avoid raised thresholds! If this can not be avoided (e.g., doors to wet rooms), ensure that the threshold is no higher than 2cm with rounded edges to allow wheelchairs smooth access and to prevent others from tripping over it.

To allow easy use of doors for wheelchair users, provide adequate space on each side to allow for opening and closing. On the outside of the door (facing the direction the door opens), provide at least 50-55 cm; on the other side, at least 30 cm. Door use zones are explained in figure 1.59.

Preference should be given to sliding doors. The door panel must be installed with an easy-grip handle on the leading edge.

Common pastime and conversation areas should allow for wheelchairs. Sofas and other chairs can be arranged to leave a free space, so a wheelchair user can join the group without constantly knocking into others’ chairs. Also, ensure that users of canes, crutches and walking frames are not obstructed from joining the conversation, watching TV, etc. As longer periods of time are spent in the living room, it is recommended to make sure that wheelchair users can transfer comfortably to a sofa or lounge chair.

Seating positions can be taken into consideration for those who are hard of hearing. Allow for people to sit at right angles to or directly opposite each other, so as to make lip reading easier. It is best not to situate windows behind chairs, since the occupant will cast shadows which make facial expressions harder to detect, and communication may become more difficult.

Meal times require careful dimensioning and planning of spaces to allow for wheelchairs. (See figure 1.60b.) Free access to the table should be provided, allowing for the positioning of open knee wheelchairs. The best position might be at one end (or both ends) of the table and should not require the wheelchair user to move chairs away before smoothly taking their place at the table. Provide space for people with canes, crutches and walking frames to put their mobility aids to one side without disturbing others while taking their place at the table.

Figure 1.50. Barrie free access requirements specific to domestic occupancy

Sleeping space requires a 90 x 200 cm bed with a transfer zone for the wheelchair of at least 120 x 150 cm. (fig. 1.60c)

Severely ill people or those with multiple disabilities should be provided with lifting equipment to help them get into or out of bed. This equipment might be on wheels or mounted to the wall or ceiling rails. Care must be taken to ensure that it is not obstructed by other furniture and that free space is given for support staff. This area should be at least 2.0 m wide at the side of the bed.

Bedroom furniture and cupboards should have enough room beside them to accommodate users of mobility aids – for example, wheelchairs. Ensure that this also applies when furniture doors or drawers are open for ease of use. It would be better still if all cabinet doors have "wide-opening hinges" that allow a clear angle of 180°. There may be an advantage to using sliding doors or specialist-designed furniture with roller-blind.

A study table should have a minimum width of at least 80 cm, a "free knee" zone under the table, as well as a work surface not higher than 85 cm from the floor. The use zone should be at a depth

of 110 cm and width of 120 cm, with a shelf to place books and tools not higher than 120 cm from the floor. (fig. 1.60d)

Knee-free design means that any open space provided for built-in equipment and furniture allows for comfortable wheelchair access (e.g., counters and tables). The knees of the user, their wheelchair, as well as its arm and foot rests should not be restricted by any protruding elements below the work surface.

Storage surfaces for wheelchair users should not be lower than 30 cm or higher than 130 cm. Use zones for cabinets with opening doors should be provided according to figure 1.60e. Preference should be given to sliding doors when cabinets are designed.

Kitchen design principles need to be described in greater than usual, taking into account the location of appliances relative to workflow, the arrangement of work surfaces, and the interfacing of technologies.

Otherwise, this will be uncomfortable for all. Preparation times will be increased, especially for those in wheelchairs, with crutches or with walking frames, since they have to use both hands just to move in the kitchen. Therefore, kitchen tasks are harder, sometimes even impossible to move an item from one place to another and relocate necessary object (e.g., to move a cooking pot filled with hot water). The food preparation (kitchen) equipment must be designed as an uninterrupted knee-free area (including sink, worktop and cooker). Obviously, there can be no storage below counter height, the ideal counter height being 85-90 cm. As with wheelchair users, the elderly might need to prepare food from a sitting position as well. To this end, the distance between the food preparation surface and cooker should not be more than 80 cm.

Washing up of dishes is also paramount to the completion of the process. Ensure that dishwashing can be undertaken from one position, allowing for dirty items to be deposited on one side of the sink and left to dry after on the other. The under side of the sink must be thermally insulated to prevent burns to insensitive knees caused by hot water. If a dishwashing machine is used, make sure that it is accessible and proper for use by wheelchair users.

The oven should be fixed at a high lever above the floor, preferably in a built-in cabinet. Ovens, stoves and microwave ovens should have a work surface on one side for the easy placement of hot dishes. If this is not part of the work surface, it could be a pull-out shelf built into adjacent kitchen cabinets.

Kitchen cabinet doors should either be sliding or equipped with "wide-opening hinges" that allow a clear angle of 180°, since doors should not obstruct the operating zone. Drawers are preferred, because the contents can be checked and removed from above. Where kitchen units have doors, a use zone with a depth of 150 cm should be provided; where the kitchen has a knee-free work surface, a use zone with a depth of 120 cm should be provided. The wheelchair should have a turning circle diameter of not less than 170 cm, part of which may be below the work surface. (fig. 1.60f)

The refrigerator should be located with ease access for wheelchair users. Refrigerators placed below the work surface can be problematic when reaching for the lowest shelf. It is better to place refrigerators 30 cm above the floor level and even to use combination freezer/refrigerator units where the freezer is located in the lower section.

The design of sanitary spaces in barrier-free homes is critical and also depends upon the individual ability of the user. (fig. 1.60g)

For toilets, folding grab rails for wheelchair users should be provided. Transfer from the wheelchair to the toilet can be parallel when the wheelchair is situated side by side with the toilet bowl.

(This is rather rare and mainly practiced by leg amputees.) Usually the wheelchair is placed at a right angle or at an offset position in relation to the toilet bowl. This situation might depend also upon the muscular mobility of the user and might change form one side to the other depending upon the individual concerned. In some situations, the user might place the wheelchair directly in front of the toilet and make a 180° transfer to the toilet bowl.

The hand-washing basin might be used by other occupants of the home and can be mounted to slide vertically, which calls for flexible pipe connections.

Showers that have no flange should be installed, and the floor finish should be the same as the rest of the bathroom with a slope of 2% towards a corner drain. Provide adequate hand holds and a folding seat to be used by wheelchair users. This type of folding shower seat is also beneficial for the elderly.

Transfer to a shower seat is the same as transfer to a toilet bowl. For ease and safety of use, place the shower head and faucet perpendicular to the wall where the seat is fixed not behind it. Optimally showers should be tailored to fit corner locations. (fig. 1.60h and 1.60i)

In some situations, a disabled person might find it preferable to have a bathtub installed for reasons of personal hygiene. Transfer to this can be done by means of a bathtub seat, which allows for transfer form wheelchair to seat, then turning and lowering into the water. Some may require (the elderly included) bathtub grip handles. Some wheelchair users have highly developed, muscular upper bodies and would prefer to transfer to a seat at the back of the bath and lower themselves into the water with the help of side-grip bars. (fig. 1.60k)

Variations for situating the toilet and hand-washing basin are given in figure 1.60j. Options “A” and

“B” are preferred where the user can wash hands just after using the toilet and before transferring back to the wheelchair. Option “A” is located in the corner and also allows room for a helper to stand by. It is recommended to have a flexible shower attachment fitted to enable washing of the lower body.

Bathrooms should have a free turning circle with a diameter 150-170 cm. This might be, at foot height, located below appliances.

Other arrangements need to be provided when a physically disabled person cannot use sanitary facilities alone. That is when specific facilities need to be individually designed. Specialist literature and advisors are available to assist in these situations.

The home should be designed to allow straight access routes, and the design should aim to reduce the number of corridors. Direct connection between the bedroom and bathroom is recommended.

Special-needs housing for disabled persons who are visually impaired, hearing impaired or mentally handicapped is not discussed here. In these cases helpful literature does exist, providing information regarding design issues (e.g., signs, fixtures, flooring, railings, handrails, etc.).

Non-dwelling spaces and barrier-free portions within different types of homes are discussed in later chapters.

2.1. Preface

The residential environment forms a part of the built environment, especially regarding knowledge of town planning concepts. This chapter contains all the knowledge deemed necessary to help in the design of homes, even if the student has not had a chance to study town planning theory.

Architecturally, residential buildings can only be developed in specific locations or environments. The previous chapter summarized the elements required to design a home without exploring the actual form of the building itself. The size of the home itself and the space it occupies affects its relationship to the actual construction site. By virtue of jobs available at the site (e.g., the building contractors), the related income relationships, the local lifestyle-influencing cultural patterns typical of the societal group, the available commerce and cultural services, etc., more or less determine the opportunities and demands associated with housing use. Therefore, residential unit types can only be understood in relationship to specific environments.

Note

The concept of "sustainable development" is applied not to "sustainability" when discussing residential environments. Development is often publicly misunderstood to mean an increase. For example, housing stock development no longer means building to suit population growth, but more importantly to reduce inefficient quality and/or to create cost-effective solutions for housing. The question "Where is your new home?"

is being replaced by "What is your new home?" Sustainability examines the use of existing urban sites or new residential development land. Environmental sustainability concerns itself with the use of existing sites for development to avoid taking more land away from nature. It would also be desirable to ensure that, when land is redeveloped for housing, the correct planning tools are used to create improvements. Finally, the residential environment should examine the use of existing and new areas as one. (AN)

2.2. Environment

The environment is an all-encompassing phenomenon. This might be close, direct or distant environment. Architecture concerns itself with the direct environment, which includes the functioning of internal spaces, buildings and groups of buildings, as well as the immediate surrounding (green) areas. The wider environment covers areas of settlement, villages, towns, cities and larger territories such as regions.

Our environment can be examined under different criteria, but should be seen as one.

The natural environment encompasses all that is not a product of human activity (climate, topography and features of the biosphere).

The human community’s voluntary cooperation operates according to an inculcated system of rules and values. We call these rules and regulation, in the wider sense of the word, their culture. The human community that cooperates according to the cultural patterns and laws is what we call the society, which also endows each individual member with an environment, known as the social environment.

Therefore, someone living in a settlement is a member of a social and cultural environment.

A developed culture is based upon production and exchange of wealth, often referred to as the economic environment.

Objects created by human activity form part of the artificial environment, and this includes the built environment. The built environment is often socially referred to as cultural tradition or "collective memory". This environmental type is artificial, but borrows from nature and society.