Mobility Friendly Design

Getting Around Easily

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Every new house or family extension should ideally be mobility friendly, to allow you, elderly relatives, friends or family to get around easily; even if they have limited mobility. Its a critical to having a good quality independent life, and to remaining safe. Some of our work involves care homes and that has focused our attention on the importance of mobility friendly spaces both inside and outside. We transfer these concepts to our general design work as it makes good sense for long term building flexibility. 

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Assessment

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This starts with the parking area which should be generously sized and well lit.

 

The entrance needs to be accessible preferably without steps and with a level threshold into the main Hall. 

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Internal circulation needs to be able to respond to moving around using walking frames or wheelchairs so having corridors and doors that are wide enough is important.\

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Access to a ground floor bathroom and even a bedroom is ideal and allows for visitors to stay who may struggle with stairs.

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Staircases should be designed to be generous, avoiding the space saving type that are too steep. If space can be allocated for a future lift - even better.

 

Partially Sighted

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We have worked on several project that need to take into account the needs of people who are partially sighted. This is often the case with elderly people with failing eyesight and the main requirement is to introduce high contrast colours into the interior design to ensure they can distinguish between for instance a door and a wall. It often gives us the chance to introduce bold colours that make spaces more interesting to everyone, not just for the partially sighted.

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Lifetime Home

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Long term these principles may benefit you as you get older and if well designed, your home becomes a Lifetime Home. Read more on our Lifetime Homes page.

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