This home in Sonoma, CA was designed and built with a steel frame and modular construction by Connect Homes for a women who wanted to age in place. It has many Universal Design features.
Photo courtesy of Joe Fletcher Photography for Prefabulous Small Houses published by Taunton
More and more people today are building houses with the idea of aging-in-place. This is not only a consideration for seniors but also for younger people who want to stay put and grow older in the house they are living in.
The accommodations made for people opting to age-in-place are also those that can be important considerations for life’s eventualities at any age. People break a leg and have difficulty getting up the stairs or need help getting into a shower. Aging parents come to visit and need grab bars in the shower in order to be safe. Building a house for all people at any stage of life and ability is a smart idea because these accommodations can be needed when one least expects it.
This same house by Connect Homes has rimless entrances to make it was to enter and leave the house,
Photo courtesy of Joe Fletcher Photography for Prefabulous Small Houses
This idea is the concept of Universal Design, which is the creation of space and products that all people at every stage in life and ability can use; a concept originally conceived for creating easier access for disabled people and now used to benefit a wider spectrum, including those with age-diminished physical capacity and everyone else as well. According to Universal Design, “everyone, even the most able-bodied person, passes through childhood, periods of temporary illness, injury, and old age. By designing for this human diversity, we can create things that will be easier for all people to use.”
Selwyn Goldsmith pioneered the concept in his 1963 work, Designing for the Disabled. One of his achievements was the creation of dropped curbs, now standard in the built environment. Ronald Mace coined the term Universal design in 1991.
This Sonoma home has a dishwasher drawer making it easier to use than typical ones that open down.
Photo courtesy of Joe Fletcher Photography for Prefabulous Small Houses, published by Taunton Press
As the United States population ages, Universal Design grows more important, and designers and engineers are developing new compliant products each year.
Out of this concept evolved many now-common Universal Design features in homes, such as grab bars in showers, adequate task lighting, threshold-free showers, wide doorways, appliances that are more accessible, such as a drawer dishwasher (which can be easily accessed by someone who is impaired), and handles on cupboards (which can be used by those with limited dexterity) instead of knobs. in addition many outside doors have lever handles for easy access. Many people today are opting for entranceways with no threshold so that the house can be accessed even if someone is mobile impaired or in a wheelchair.
Borderless showers, like this one, are becoming increasingly popular. This one is in a home on Whidbey Island and was designed and built by FabCab with prefabricated timber frame and SIPs
Photo courtesy of Dale Lang for Prefabulous Small Houses, published by Taunton Press
Years ago it was difficult to find attractive grab bars, now they are part of most bathroom accessory lines. Appliance manufacturers are offering options that are safer for any age. Induction stoves are ideal in both homes with little children who can get fingers burned with other stove options and they are excellent for older people who may forget to turn off the heat. Some ovens are available with doors that open to the side and are easier to handle Microwave, refrigerator and dishwasher drawers are easier for people in wheelchairs and also for small children.
Before building a house people should consider incorporating some of the Universal Design concepts into their new home so it can be their “forever home”.