universal bathroom design ideas
as tony said my name's neil murphy,the senior built environment advisor at the centre for excellence inuniversal design, my background is an architect and what i'm going todo is take you through our latest publication, one of thelatest publications, "building for everyone", so i'll just walkthrough that and hopefully it will be an interesting presentation for you. building for everyone, which i'llrefer to as bfe from now on, we tried to look at, it was previouslypublished in 1998 and 2000, i think 2002 as a design guide forbuilt environment professionals,
and the general public onhow to make buildings accessible, so it was decided to take a universaldesign approach to the book. now one book has been turned into 10booklets, it informs about universal design, it promotes universal designwithin the built environment and it's aimed at professionals working inthe built environment and the general public, so those professionalswill be yourselves, access officers,etcetera. there is an increase intechnical drawings and photographs. what you see on the slide is thelisting of the various booklets and you can see the colours, throughoutthe design of the revision there is a
language, a design language to it,so we use colours to highlight and to denote the various booklets, so theyrange from external environment and approach, entrances and horizontalcirculation, vertical circulation, internal environment and services,sanitary facilities, facilities and buildings, building types, buildingmanagement, planning and index andterminology. as you can see it's anextensive and universal area covered. so there are the covers, as i said wethought long and hard, obviously we are the centre for excellencein universal design and we are very aware that in order to appeal,certainly to design professionals,
we have to actually,our designs have to look good. so a lot of thought and effortwas put into what we think is a great final set of booklets. so the building for everyone has beenrevised to include universal design principles, as i mentioned this isthe third version, the first version in '98 and second in 2002, they werethe most downloaded documents from the nda website. just to cover what universal designmeans, under the synopsis of the disability act, universal designrefers to the design and composition
of an environment so it can beaccessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by allpeople, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. if you cover age, size, ability ordisability in the design, you have basically cornered the market,so it's not just hearts and flowers involved, there is a mercenary sideto it, which appeals to business, so good design means you makemore money, that's just a fact. so bfe references part m 2010 revisedaccess to building regulations, but also goes beyond that, we thinkbfe is good practice, we know it is
good practice; the dimensions andreferences throughout bfe are based on combined guidance from manyof the international standards andguidelines. we looked at standards from norway,from australia, new zealand, america, canada, lebanon, so we like to thinkwe covered a wide area of standards, international standards. and within the booklets a rangehas been given instead of a single optimum dimension, as this providesmore flexibility to designers. this was major feedback thatwe received from built environment professionals, they wanted tobe given a flexibility rather than
having a rigid setof rules and regulations. the objectives of the series ofbooklets are to identify and promote best practice with regard touniversal design in the built and external environment. provide best practiceguidelines while recognising existing regulations in ireland. provide guidelines that are usableby and accessible to the target audience, which is everybody. and promote the achievementof universal design in ireland.
i'm not going to go through the slidetoo much, we did an extensive focus consultation process, we contacted56 organisations and individuals, the overall response we got wasoverall agreement and positive response received from participants,specific responses concerning elements of text, imagesand drawings were received. and some examples of theorganisations were the royal institute of architects of ireland,irish wheelchair association, office of public works, national councilfor the blind ireland, etcetera. as i said extensive cross-checkingtook place with the department of the
environment on the continuity andcompatibility of the revised part m and the new building for everyone. we have engaged extensively with thedepartment of the environment and are delighted to do so and feel we have agood relationship, which we'll use as we move forward with our next set ofdocuments we are working on this year and in the years to come. so we ensured in no area does bfecontradict part m rather what it is offered is a range ofdimensions similar or above part m, thus allowing greater flexibilityto the designer and also providing a
platform for universal design for allpeople of ireland regardless of age, this sheet is basically a sample ofthe cross-check that we did, we had -- we were working with eoin o'shea,an architect, and he is also a ircset doctorate student, whichis the irish research council for science, engineering and technology,based at trinity haus, eoin's help was invaluable in making sure thatour new set of booklets met and went beyond national and internationalstandards in order to provide a correct set of guidance fordesigners and the general public. so the questionis why universal design?
people are diverse, that's agiven, but sometimes when it comes to designers they don't think of that,so it's our job to remind them andre-enforce that. some people are left-handed some areright-handed, people vary in their age, size and functionalcapabilities. illness or disability, whether temporary or permanent canalso affect characteristics such as people's mobility, dexterity, reach,balance, strength, touch, knowledge, understanding, memory or sense ofdirection, so all these are very, very important issues -- we're justgetting a bit of feedback from the dog having a drink, but i can relateto that, it's pretty hot up here!
i'm delighted to have him orher join us today -- him, very good. so universal design assumes we havesome images up on the screen which shows a woman on a set of crutches,she is manoeuvring down a ramp and she is with her boyfriend or husband,so she's obviously injured her leg, you have an image of a pregnantwoman, you have an image of a person holding a map, in other words theylook like they are lost, and then you have an image of someone carrying twoheavy shopping bags, plastic bags. what we are trying to sayis that universal design assumes -- what we are saying is thatevery person experiences barriers,
reduced functioning, some form ofdisability, whether it be temporary or permanent at some stagein life, that's part of life. so people should be able to findtheir way easily, understand how to use building facilities, such asintercoms and lifts, and know what is a pedestrian facility and shouldknow where they may encounter traffic within and without the building. i'm going to cover -- there arecertain principles of universal design, but i'm only going to coverone, i think it's an important one. principle one is equitable use,we have three images here, one of a
person using a wheelchair,using a level entry tram or rail car, pretty much the same image shows amother with a stroller gaining entry to a similar tram or undergroundsubway train, and then there is an image of an older woman pushinga pram and also pulling a wheeled luggage, so the first image shows aperson using a wheelchair and they are able to gainaccess easily to the tram car. a lot of designers won't even relateor understand or remember that, when people have babies or childrenthey need to be able to do very similar actions to someone usinga wheelchair, so the idea is if you
design out all the problems fromthe very start there won't be any problems or the cost of problems ofretrofitting, which can cost a huge amount of money to governmentsand local authorities. the other image of the woman pushingthe stroller and carrying or leading the wheeling luggage, obviouslythis is a woman is who is moving fast through a busy area, but seemsconfident and at ease with what sheis doing. the thing to note is that the wheeledluggage there, this year is the 40th anniversary of the putting wheels onluggage, humanity has had wheels as part of transport for thousands ofyears, it's only 40 years ago someone
thought about putting wheels on asuitcase, so that is where universal design, what it's about andwhere it's going, it's about thinking beyond barriers and particularboxes to provide good design. that is pretty much all it is. it's not rocket science. a quote from a person called welshsaying universal design is not a euphemism for accessibility, asaccess features such as ramps and lifts are potent symbols ofseparateness and universal design is not about separating people.
so put simply we should be ableto enter via the same door in all aspects of society, literally ormetaphorically, but it should always be handled professionally in allstages of the process, and because you are here today, thatis reinforcing that particular point. these are the covers; i'll go quicklythrough each of the booklets and show you a flavour of what's involved. booklet one is external environmentand approach, as you can see what we tried to do with regards to each ofthe booklets was include images of families of people that may not havebeen used in design booklets before,
so we have an image of a fatherpushing a stroller along a busy street, dressed in a suit, helooks corporate and it looks like a financial area, so it's alludingto the fact that this man is busy, but still has time for his child, heneeds to have a wide footpath that'saccessible. then there is an image of a family,four kids and the parents and they are standing on a wide pedestrianfootpath, it's bright and colourful and this is whatwe wanted for the series. then we have a very clear, easilyunderstood drawing and this drawing shows accessible car parkingspaces and the dimensions are clear,
the text involved in what a designeror stakeholder would want to see is all there, hopefully. booklet two, the next slide, isentrances and horizontal circulation, this slide shows the cover ofbooklet two, it shows a drawing with dimensions of entrance doorways,it shows three photographs, one is a bright and airy atrium in a localauthority with level entry access. the next is a person in a wheelchairat a split level reception desk and an induction loop sign for theperson, for people using the desk to realise there is an induction loopand then there is an image of a guide
dog user tracing her finger across asign that has got raised lettering in a local authority, it's actuallycork, a photo of elaine kennedy from the irish guide dogs association --guide dogs association of ireland. the next slide isbooklet 3, vertical circulation. this booklet aims to encouragedesigners to provide universal design solutions for the entrancesand horizontal circulation within buildings that look beyond therecommended requirements of national building regulations; i won't repeatthat last part and the next slides; that's pretty much par for thecourse for the rest of the booklets.
there are three images, one is of aclear glass lift, an accessible lift in a building, it's a level entry andlooks -- it is easy to use, easy to understand and gives access tothe floors above the ground floor. the next image is of a travelatorin an airport, modern looking design, has good clear signage for passengersto make their terminals and then a drawing of an internal stairs, veryclearly drawn with good dimensions, this is what designers need when theyare in a busy office, to access the information quickly and wehope we have achieved that goal. booklet 4, the next slide is internalenvironment and services, this aims
to increase awareness of and toencourage designers to identify the needs of all those who requiregood internal environment and layouts within buildings in orderto undertake daily activities. so there is three pictures, one ofa very well designed signage post in cork city council's offices, andthere is also an image of a reception desk with a large induction loopand a receptionist sitting behind thedesk. and then there is a drawing of arrowplacement on directional signs which, if you have ever gone into a buildingand the arrows aren't correct you can get lost easily and that's forpeople who have got perfect vision,
so good design is always important. booklet 5, next is sanitaryfacilities, this booklet aims to encourage designers to provideuniversal design solutions for sanitary facilities that lookbeyond the minimum regulations. so three images here and two of themare generously donated by an interior architect in england called alisonwright, she designs what we feel are fantastic bathrooms. the first image shows a largefamily bathroom, all the sanitary facilities, toilet and sink, areoff the floor and the bath has a good
space, toe space forpeople to be able to lean over. the bathroom is a wet room, shedesigned the room for a family with kids, the mother used to wash thekids and dog on muddy days when they came in on the floor of the bathroom,they didn't need the bath, it has underfloor heating, it driesquickly and it also makes it clean, you are cleaning the bathroomeverytime you have a shower. the next is a shower unit shedesigned for a customer of hers, it looks like a shower unit in ahotel, but this is a domestic house, it's something we'd all like.
what the image shows is verynice tiling, very expensive tiling, a seat, a nice screen, levelentry and underfloor heating, so very comfortable and easy to use. and then there is a drawingof an accessible shower with a wc. next slide is booklet 6, facilitiesand buildings; this aims to encourage designers to provide universaldesign solutions for facilities and equipment within buildings that gobeyond minimum regs, three images; one of a reception desk, a vendingmachine and one of key dimensions for general seating areas, soimportant information in clear,
easy to understand drawings. booklet 7 is building types; thisaims to increase awareness of and to encourage designers to identify theneeds of all those who require access to a wide range of buildings andspaces to undertake daily activities. there are about 7 images; one isof a boardwalk in carrick-on-shannon, one of a public library, a woman witha stroller at a taxi rank, the other is of a park and mother and a childin a field by the side of a mountain, what we are trying to reinforceis that you should be able to access external spaces aswell as public spaces.
booklet 8 is building management;this aims to encourage building managers to provide effectivebuilding management and universal design solutions for a wide rangeof buildings that look beyond the minimum regs. so three images here, one ofterminology, a list of terms used in the booklet, we have a check-listshown, which is green panel with tick marks, which you should try and meetall the check-list requirements and then there is the exampleof priority ratings for buildings. the final booklet is the 10, this isnumber 9, planning and policy; this
covers issues around the planningprocess including development plans, planning policies, developmentcontrol, planning conditions, and how the concept of universal design canadd value to the planning process inireland. again there is three images, one ofa boardwalk indicating level access with a check-list below it,the other is universal design with a pre-application check-list andthe other is a venue check-list for consultation events. there is no point running aconsultation event if entrance to the building is purely stairs, you areon a hiding to nothing straight away,
so what this is suppose to do ishelp those involved in the planning process in ireland to beable to do it in a better way using universal design principles. the final slide regarding booklets isbooklet 10, index and terminology, it provides an overarching index andlist of terminologies used in thebfe series. the next few slides i'll run throughquickly shows a flavour of what the interior of the booklets look like. we use colour, each had a colour,which was used as banner headings and highlighting particular pieces oftext, lots of images, an image of a
woman with a stroller, split levelreception desk and a person using a wheelchair in an airport. again next slide shows anotherexample, photo of a man with a stroller, which you saw earlier onand a drawing of a parking space in a garage for a personusing a wheelchair and a car. again final slide on this shows anolder woman using a check-out desk in a supermarket, so again we'retrying to involve age, size, ability and disability throughout the series. another slide showing anotherflavour with check-lists, there are
check-lists throughout the series tohelp you ensure that you have met the requirements of thedesign that you are trying to do. another one. so here's whatthe booklets look like. they are available free, however wedon't have the budget to post them out to people, so if you want a setplease contact us at the centre and we'll be delighted for to youcome in, in a way for us it's great, because we get to meet the peoplegetting the series or you can design it -- they are free todownload on the website.
www.universaldesign.ie/buildingforeveryone. they are accessible pdfs, so forpeople with visual difficulties they are fully accessible, if you haveany issues let us know, we hope we covered everything. there they are again, theslide shows the ten booklet covers. just a final slide basicallycovers what work we were involved in, in the centre, regarding the builtenvironment in 2012 and beyond, we have just got the nda's board toapprove the final draft of a piece of research that we carried out withtrinity haus, which is a building
construction research centre intrinity college looking at shared spaces, shared surfaces and homezones, research and recommendationsfor ireland. this is a very exciting piece ofresearch and we are delighted how it came about and it's hopefully goingto provide better urban spaces for all people in ireland and we liketo think it's the first in the world involving universal design so that'shopefully going to be on the websitesoon. we are near the tail-end of universaldesign homes guidelines for ireland, which should be completed in the nextmonth, so keep an eye on the websitefor that. we are currently on the e-tenderwebsite looking for tenders for
universal design lifecycle campusesfor ireland, this is basically campuses on one side involvingpre-school, primary, secondary, third level and older people's educationin the one campus, it means you are making savings regarding carbonfootprint, cost of travel, transport, road networks, etcetera. and the final piece is research andrecommendations; we are just building the tender for now for dementia andhome design for ireland, looking at new build and retrofit universaldesign guidance, we feel, as many people do, we all would like tolive in our homes till the end of our
days, we hope this research willbe helpful for built environmentprofessionals. that's me, thank you very much,a bit of a rush through, that's ourwebsite. universaldesign.ie/buildingforeveryone thanks.