ALBANY, N.Y., May 4 (UPI) -- Universal design evolved out of the efforts to make buildings, furniture and equipment more accessible for people with disabilities, but one designer says she prefer just calling it, "damn good design."
Mary Jo Peterson, head of Mary Jo Peterson Inc. Design Consultants in Brookfield, Conn., is an award-winning designer and author of "Universal Kitchen and Bathroom Planning" and "Universal Interiors by Design."
Universal design goes beyond just being accessible, it recognizes that kitchen counters need to be of various heights because people come in different sizes, ages and abilities and some may want to peel potatoes while sitting down, according to Peterson.
Peterson said that integrating Universal Design in a kitchen can also include having a kitchen desk that can also be used as food-preparation area for someone sitting, pull-out and fold-up counters for additional transfer surfaces and a side-by-side refrigerator -- things that make any kitchen handier and easier to use.
The beauty of universal design is that as designers rethink how different people use things, improvements are made in which everyone can benefit.
Years ago I took care of a 10-month-old baby for a couple when they went on vacation. In the back of the house the previous owner had built an addition of a room with a bathroom, which the family used as a family room. The wife told me to feel free to use the bathroom off the family room because it's more comfortable than the upstairs bathroom -- because she did.
At the time I didn't realize the back room had been added to the 100-year-old house because it had no downstairs bedroom or bathroom and the previous owner could no longer manage going up and down the stairs several times a day.
But, I too found the extra-roomy shower more comfortable and I could understand why the family would use the roomier downstairs shower even thought it required walking through the kitchen, dining room, living room, climbing the stairs and walking down the hall to the bedroom.
While universal design has moved slowly to becoming -- universal -- Peterson says that the building industry is moving more quickly to address the aging housing market.
"Ten years ago, when I would attend the big homebuilders show, at cocktail parties I was asked what I do and the builders really didn't seem to care when I said I focus on kitchens and baths and I promote universal design," Peterson told UPI's Caregiving.
"Five years later, the same builders were coming to me at those same cocktail parties and asking me to tell them what they need to know about universal design, but today it's vastly different -- they're more understanding and have more of an attitude of 'let's do this the right way and before it's mandated.'"
Peterson said she began using universal design in her work when at one a point in her career and life in general she started wondering if she could make a difference in the world.
"I turned the focus of my kitchen and bath design work to people with disabilities," she says on her Web site. However, as Peterson continued to work with her former clients and builders she learned that many of the things used to support or give access to a client with a disability would also improve the space for an able-bodied client.
The focus need not be people with disabilities to the exclusion of others, but improved flexibility and access for all clients, according to Peterson.
"Most clients won't need to deal with a disability, but if they age in place, they will have to deal with lessened mobility so stepless entries and bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor is something almost all will need as they age," Peterson said. "Grab bars in the bathroom are necessary for those who are elderly, but just as useful for children and the able-bodied adult who wants to wash their feet in the shower."
It's just as easy when designing a new home not to have thresholds or a curb to the shower, but it makes all the difference to someone with balance issues or a wheelchair, according to Peterson.
Universal Design is not just for those living in the home, the concept has further evolved to "visitability."
"Suppose a man never has to deal with an injury, disability or aging himself, but his wife gets a stroke and has mobility problems and he redoes the entire house so she can continue to live there," Eleanor Smith, director of Concrete Change, based in Atlanta, told Caregiving.
"What happens when she wants to attend her grandson's birthday or graduation party? Visitability calls for access to homes so people who use wheelchairs or walkers, or are impaired by stiffness, weakness or balance problems can enter a home and be able to use the bathroom -- anything else involves isolation and existing as a virtual prisoner in one's home."
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Next: Market forces in universal design
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Alex Cukan is an award-winning journalist, but she always has considered caregiving her primary job. UPI welcomes comments and questions about this column. E-mail: [email protected]
