D.I.Y. accessibility
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We are a nation of DIY enthusiasts – an approach that has produced some exciting innovations but also has a number of pitfalls.
When it comes to accessibility in the built environment, a common attitude here in New Zealand is that the design team can look after it as part of their services. After all, they are familiar with the building code, so surely, the requirements for accessibility would be easy for them to handle. However, there are a few fishhooks with this approach.
In my experience, most New Zealand building professionals focus on meeting the minimum accessibility requirements to ensure local council authorities will approve the building. While compliance is obviously very important, a “requirements only” approach is standards-oriented rather than people-oriented.
Take, for example, a local public building with excellent kerb-side accessible car parks near the entrance. Between the car parks, there is ramped access to the footpath for anyone unable to step up onto the kerb. Tick, compliance met. At the building’s raised entrance, there is a generous landing with a ramp to get from the footpath to the door. Tick again, compliance met.
The building provides everything that someone with a disability requires to get inside. Could it do any better than that? Yes, actually, it could.
In this case, the ramp is located on the side of the entrance furthest away from the accessible car parks, while the steps are located on the side of the entrance closest to them. Therefore, anyone who needs to use the ramp must travel from the accessible car parks, along the footpath, past the steps, past the ramp to the point where it meets the path, then double back up the ramp to reach the building’s entrance.
You might think that having to travel a few extra metres from the accessible car parks to the front door of the building isn’t a big deal. After all, the design team has ensured accessibility requirements have been met, and the council has approved them.
But to a person using a manual wheelchair, an older person using a walking frame, or someone with a hidden disability that greatly limits their stamina, it makes an enormous difference. The additional metres they have to travel may well deter those people from visiting the building, meaning they miss out on yet another experience. Like many other hurdles unnoticed by most of us, that extra distance makes it just too hard.
Creating buildings that work for everyone is a team effort. The design teams do the best they can, and they work hard to meet minimum standards. But without specialist knowledge, ideally gained from the disabled community, it is not easy to assemble those minimum requirements in a way that works best for all the people who want or need to use a building.
The example above is just one of many scenarios that could have been executed better to make it easier for people to engage with the built environment. There are often minimum requirements that are inadvertently missed, as well as countless details that can be included in a building, above and beyond minimum requirements, that would make it even better again. Many of these details add little to no cost to a project but make a world of difference.
If you are undertaking a built environment project, small or large, consider bypassing the DIY approach for accessibility and instead enlist professional help. It could make a big difference to people using the building throughout its lifetime.
