We understand residents who are seeking accessible homes already face numerous challenges in their day-to-day lives. Our goal is to design accessible spaces that minimize these challenges and promote the highest quality of life and a sense of independence in everyday living. We prioritize creating both indoor and outdoor spaces that are conducive to varying gathering sizes and movement abilities while minimizing excessive ramping or paved surfaces.
There are a variety of standards that regulate the requirements for designing spaces that promote equal access for varying abilities including Fair Housing regulations, ADA, ANSI 117, Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), and Universal Design standards. Meeting these regulations can often be challenging, but we believe they can be an excellent opportunity to provide housing equality to all residents and visitors. Following and adapting to these regulations inspires our architects to be creative in the design process and deliver solutions that serve all abilities.
The above sink has been lowered in a clubhouse kitchen for increased accessibility.
Although the different classifications of accessible homes can vary within a multifamily community, most homes do not require much more space than a standard kitchen or bathroom. The clearances required for these homes make the space more adaptable for people of all abilities, ensuring a functional arrangement that can be well utilized by everyone. Designing spaces that are adaptable to changing needs allows residents the ability to remain in their homes despite changes in health and mobility.
These are removable cabinets with a shallow roll-under sink. The adjacent cabinet is removable and can be lowered into a work surface.
The biggest challenge in designing for accessibility in multifamily projects is creating accessible routes throughout the community. It is critical to provide easy access for people of all abilities to fully utilize all amenity spaces. One of our team’s favorite challenges is designing a swimming pool that can be used by many different ages and abilities. This is an example in which we consider specific pool depths, layouts, and entry points. In a previous project, the first apartment leased was a fully accessible home because the resident fell in love with the ramp access to the pool!
Accessible pool entrance at the Goose Creek Apartments Project in Fishersville, Virginia.
Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Charles’s Story
Over the past few months, the concept of aging-in-place has come to the front of my mind. I have been training to run / walk a 5-mile race that is coming up in October, and for all those who knew me before I was overweight (yes that was a long time ago), I was never a runner. However, I needed a goal to motivate myself to exercise, and by some overwhelming depth of evil and bad decision-making, I decided that a 5-mile race would be the goal. So I run / walk / crawl a couple of miles two days a week and then run / walk / cry 5 miles on Saturday mornings.
It has taken me a couple of months to reach a point where I could go the 5 mile distance, but now I know I will finish the race. Now I am working on finishing in under 1 hour. This sounds easy to some, but for me, that would require cutting 10 minutes off my time in the next 2 weeks. I am not sure I will get there unless, by some excellent luck, the entire race is all downhill and perhaps has a portion that is run while sitting down… So, I do love a challenge and want to beat my goal.
I had a thought, perhaps if I go further in training, 5 miles will go faster come race day. Since I have been able to make 5 miles for a few weeks in a row and not die, I decided to go further this Saturday. After the relief sale, after walking 10,000 steps, after eating a lot of really good food that was not really good for you, I realized that this was not good decision-making. I made it 7.2 miles and did not die; mission accomplished – sort of.
Two days later, my legs are still very tired. Not really hurting, just tired. They are heavy with every step. It is hard to walk up stairs. I know this will pass, but what if every day felt this way even if I did not run? How would life be different? How would my house work for me?
As I age, my body has new aches and pains. Things hurt that I did not know could feel pain and for no reason. My body has decided that torturing me is a fun activity. Assuming I am not alone, this is a problem for many of you, right? Tell me I am not alone… Please?
Aging and changes as a normal part of life
Assuming some of you also are aging (and I hope you are) and feel new aches and pains that you did not in the past, you might be interested in this concept of design called aging-in-place. This concept unfortunately has the word aging in it, and nobody wants to think about that concept. So put that aside for a moment and think about living with ease in-place.
According to AARP, over the next 14 years (as of 2016) 10,000 people will turn 65 years old each day. If some or many of these people face new aches, pains and possibly mobility issues, where will they live? Will they want a house that has stairs? Will they want a house with multiple floors or many small rooms? Will they want a big yard to maintain? These are all new factors in this next boom in housing.
Aging In Place Design is not just about aging people: more considerations and questions
The popular designs of the past, two-story homes or split level homes, are hard to adapt to when there is a mobility issue. It is not just about aging people, but what if you have a baby, stroller, and groceries – a house designed for aging-in-place provides ease of use. What if your daughter breaks an ankle? Having a house with a first floor bedroom and bathroom will make life easier for recovery.
What if your friend in a wheelchair wants to visit? A house designed for aging-in-place works well for building a community of friends with all abilities. What if you want to sit down to work in the kitchen? What if you want more light at times in a room? What if you don’t want to bend over to plug in something? What if you need to move in a new refrigerator? What if you want to shave your legs in the shower? All of these things are answered by aging-in-place design strategies that make living easier. So when you are deciding on what you want in your next new house, you might think about this question: “Why should you want a house designed for aging-in-place?”
We are working on classic design for aging-in-place house for a couple in Harrisonburg. The goal is to make the home a forever home. Using aging-in-place strategies we are designing a home that can adapt over time to the needs of our clients. From the open floor plan to wide doorways the home can accommodate people of all abilities.
Making the home energy-efficient and comfortable keeps the house usable for a long time and affordable to heat and cool. Reducing long-term expenses due to conditioning the home provides payback every month. This is important as you age and you move to a fixed income. It is also important at all other points in your life as you want to spend as little as possible on heating and cooling so you can maximize enjoyment.
Using durable materials will make the house long-lasting and easy to maintain. Again reducing long-term costs associated with maintenance of the home.
We are including a roll-in shower, sitting space in the kitchen, no-step entry, and doors with lever handles to make the house flexible for changing needs.
There is no way of knowing what will happen in the future, but making the home as affordable as possible and adaptable will increase the possibility of making this a home for a lifetime.
There are many design elements that can be integrated into your home that will allow you to live there for a lifetime. Simple changes that can be integrated into the design will allow your home to adapt along with your needs so you can celebrate aging in place. This is most important to keep you in your community you know and trust.
Looking for solutions that look good and are functional are key elements to “aging in place” design. Design Matters! Take the time to find solutions the are both functional and beautiful. Look for products that allow for many abilities to access and function in the given space.
If you are building a home, you should plan for a lifetime, finding solutions that will be healthy, energy-efficient, durable, and adaptable as life changes.
The SVBA is hosting a nationally recognized certification program in Harrisonburg this week. The building industry professionals taking this course have come from Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, and as far away as Lynchburg and Baltimore. This training will provide the knowledge and training for those attending to better serve the community by offering solutions for people to live more comfortably in their homes with comfort, security, and dignity. Aging in Place is not about designing for a disability, it is about designing solutions that work for all abilities. CAPS certification is a recognized, understood, and respected designation that you can trust when selecting professionals to help you live better.
The Certified Aging-in-place specialist (CAPS) designation was developed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelors Council, in collaboration with the AARP, NAHB Research Center, and NAHB Seniors Housing Council.
This program was developed to provide professionals training that would enable them to accommodate the needs of people over the age of 50, as well as the knowledge they would need to modify their homes for aging in place.
The program focuses specifically on the customer service skills, technical information, and business management training needed to properly serve the needs of older adults.
In other words, the CAPS certified professional is trained on the unique needs of the baby boomer generation by modifying homes so someone can live there longer as they age addressing the most common barriers in a home.
If you are like most people over the age of 45, you do not want to move from your house. It is a comfortable place, you know the neighborhood, you know the shortcuts, you are safe and secure. According to the AARP, older home owners overwhelmingly prefer to stay in their current home, which means living in a home safely, independently, and comfortable regardless of your abilities. The design of the home is very important and if you are in the process of design there are things you can do now that don’t add anything to the budget but are just good ideas. There are also many things you can do to your current home or to look for if you are purchasing a home already built.
The concept of aging in place design (what a terrible name, how about we call it simply good design) is not about designing for inabilities. There are particular things that you should do to make the home easy to use, maintain, and navigate. The same principles apply to a home you never plan to move from as they do if you hurt your knee in a weekend soccer match or if you are simply carrying in a load of groceries from the store. You need your home to be designed well.
If you are looking for a professional that can help you with these ideas there are a couple of certifications to look for to make sure they know what you need. First is one that I earned last year, the State of Virginia offers a Universal Design Certificate that qualifies you to do work through their system. That training is a one day event that teaches concepts and principles that designers should consider in homes they are designing. The other is done through the National Association of Home Builders called the Certified Aging in Place Specialist. This is a 3-day training that teaches builders and designers how to talk about aging in place and how to implement it into their designs. There is a CAPS training scheduled for Harrisonburg in May and I hope there is a room full of people who want to learn more about these concepts to better serve our community.
