Your Accessible Home

Happy couple in front of their first home.

The Accessible Home: Designed for all ages and abilities

When people buy a home in their mid-twenty to thirty, they will buy it with their current needs in mind without thinking much of their needs in the future, as a result, many people ended up living in houses designed for their much-younger and able selves, and overlook design features that may become important as they age.

Accessibility is about fitting the home to the real needs of those who live and visit there—the young and old, able and disabled: regardless if they use a wheelchair, a white cane, bifocals, or hearing aids. Accessible Homes are built based on the principles of Universal Design.

So what is Universal Design?

Universal design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.

It means making your home accessible to an elderly visitor who might be coming in a wheelchair; making your bathroom friendly for your young nephew who has just learned to clean up after himself after using the bathroom; kitchen furniture designed in a way that reduces bending and stretching while cooking; sufficient lighting so that friend with poor vision can see and follow a pathway.

This is not a special requirement for the benefit of only a minority of the population. These days, Universal design is a fundamental condition of good design.

Universal Design modernises your home to allow every member of your family to live comfortably and safely.

An accessible home built in line with Universal principles provides an inclusive and barrier-free environment, that will see you through the changing needs of your family as the years roll by. It helps homeowners to eventually age in place, even in the event when more specific needs arise, only small changes, add-ons or adaption is required.

Thus Universal Design is a sustainable way to modify your home.