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Universal Guidelines
Part two in a series addressing the questions a savvy contractor should ask before plunging into the seniors market.

Louis Tenenbaum
January 7, 2003
HousingZone

Louis Tenenbaum

I call myself an independent living strategist because independence is a basic concern, and loss of independence is something we all fear. I help my clients devise a strategy to preserve independence. The job is not much different from the role most design/build firms play, but the agenda and the range of solutions are specialized. Calling myself an independent living strategist also makes it easier to explain that I don't give free estimates.

Principles of Universal Design
Copyright 1997 North Carolina State University, The Center for Universal Design

The authors, a working group of architects, product designers, engineers and environmental design researchers, collaborated to establish the following principles of universal design to guide a wide range of design disciplines including environments, products and communications. These seven principles may be applied to evaluate existing designs, guide the design process and educate both designers and consumers about the characteristics of more usable products and environments.

PRINCIPLE ONE: Equitable Use
The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.

PRINCIPLE TWO: Flexibility in Use
The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities

PRINCIPLE THREE: Simple and Intuitive Use
Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills or current concentration level.

PRINCIPLE FOUR: Perceptible Information
The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.

PRINCIPLE FIVE: Tolerance for Error
The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.

PRINCIPLE SIX: Low Physical Effort
The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.

PRINCIPLE SEVEN: Size and Space for Approach and Use
Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation and use regardless of the user's body size, posture or mobility.

"Hurry-up" remodeling clients typically have a problem to be solved, such as getting into and out of the house or safely bathing alone or with assistance. That makes the initial scope of work easier to define than with a "wait" or planner client. Resolving that problem is probably the extent of their initial interest. As a strategist, you also should point out additional problems waiting to emerge. They might put off considering those jobs until the crisis is over. If you stay in touch with these clients after the crisis abates and they have some balance in their lives, you might turn them into planner clients for more work.

A planner is a client wise enough to try to avoid the hurry-up scenario. The scope is never as clear for a planner as it is for a crisis client. Planners need your help in deciding what to do. There are two general factors.

  1. Make the home safer. A safer home might help them to avoid crisis, by preventing a fall, for example.
  2. Ready the house for recovery and caregiving after an illness or medical procedure.

Typical issues include:

  • getting safely and securely into and out of the house.
  • moving around within the house, which might mean up and down stairs.
  • getting into and out of bed and using the bathroom.
  • meal preparation and eating.
  • office-type activities (mail, bills, etc.).
  • entertainment (reading, games, television, music).
  • enjoying the outdoors.

Planners expect advice about projects that offer good value. Your advice will be valuable if you understand that we're all getting older, that our current weaknesses will progress. You must advise them in a way that meets their current needs and prepares their house for needs that might emerge later. To do this we rely on the principles of universal design.

According to The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University, "Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." The entry is a good place to illustrate universal design. A rolling entry is useful for baby strollers, suitcases with wheels, people on crutches, people with their arms full, appliance delivery people and those using a wheelchair. It is good for the frail and the fleet of foot. Steps are difficult for all but the fleet of foot. This issue wasn't so obvious 100 years ago when life expectancy was 47, before modern medicine resulted in so much variation.

Now the neat part: All your clients will get older. Aging is a progressive condition. Physical change is the most obvious indicator of the progress. Most discussion about universal design focuses on the variety of shapes and abilities in the population, but in residential design the differences you typically witness in a population become the changes you see in an individual. Universal design should make homes functional as people get older and change.

The principles of universal design (see sidebar) are not specific design rules but guidelines. They suggest a way to think, and as such they give you latitude. Universal design solutions open the situation to interpretation, flexibility and criticism. Universal design is in the eye of the beholder. John Salmen of Universal Designers and Consultants in Takoma Park, Md. (www.universaldesign.com/graph-entrance.html), long recognized as a leader in this field, says, "Universal design is always on the horizon. You never reach it."

When advising clients about what to do, let the principles of universal design guide you. As with all remodeling, keep expectations realistic. Universal design is not a panacea, so make sure the client knows you have no crystal ball.

Additional Resources

  • Adaptive Environments www.adaptenv.org
  • Natural Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification www.homemods.org
  • Inclusive Design and Environmental Access Center (IDEA) www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/

    Next installment: How universal design helped one client meet her changing needs
    © 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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