Living with the Five Values: Design for Real People

Part Three: Beauty in the details, and a force for good

The five values are for everyone, and we must make sure that what we do IS for everyone. We have a rich diversity of people living in our neighbourhoods and we all have different needs over a lifetime. To go on that journey together requires a different mindset.

Rach Wooden is both a curate in a parish in South-West London and an Occupational Therapist specialising in inclusive housing design. These articles were a result of dialogue with the Church Housing Foundation team, following the Church Housing Conference in November 2022.

In part 2 we looked at the importance of our early major design choices. Alongside those major choices, the fine details of products, fixtures and fittings makes a huge difference. With our ‘design for all’ mindset from Part 1, this means challenging some of the assumptions around ‘accessible’ products. Accessibility can incorporate both beauty and value for money, but the industry does not always do a great job.

Products that are marketed specifically as ‘accessible’ are often more expensive as well as looking more institutional. For example, many developers think that the right thing to buy for a shower-room designed for a wheelchair user is a ‘Doc M pack’. This is a common misunderstanding! These products have been designed for public spaces (such as toilets in restaurants and showers in leisure centres) and are often uglier, more costly, and vaguely reminiscent of a hospital. There is no reason that older and disabled people need to have this kind of thing in their home, but unless we pay attention it may happen by accident.

Instead, you can choose contemporary, flexible, good quality products that probably don’t cost more, but are just accessible by design. Many manufacturers make decent taps with small levers, door, window or kitchen cupboard handles which are easy to grip, or light switches with a colour contrasting background (I have most of these items in my own home). If you pick products well, you can use them anywhere - and if you can, why wouldn’t you?

“If you pick products well, you can use them anywhere - and if you can, why wouldn’t you?”

Another important decision is around colour and texture – the flooring, doors, walls, bathroom tiles, kitchen cupboards and worktops. Avoiding gloss and glare, and choosing colour and tonal contrasting products can make a huge difference for people with a whole range of different physical, sensory and cognitive differences. Thinking carefully about products which might cause sensory overload can mean choosing quieter options or placing a washing machine in a hallway cupboard rather than in the kitchen and living area.

This can have an incredibly positive effect on the experience of a wide range of people. These are all choices that result in homes that are more inclusive without materially increasing the cost - so in the context of our values they are very hard to ignore. They are choices that can simply mean better homes for anyone and everyone.

Shifting the market

Our choices also help create a market for good design. There are an increasing number of companies who are producing really lovely inclusive products, and the more we support such companies, the more available and cost-effective their products will become. It’s always worth asking around, and framing this as an opportunity. For example some manufacturers are keen to get into the affordable / social rent market and may therefore reduce their prices to enable you to buy from them and demonstrate the value.

If you do need to design and fit specific items, such as an accessible kitchen for a wheelchair user, choose a kitchen designer who has a clear understanding and ensure their products do actually provide a genuinely accessible option (not all do). I have worked with a range of kitchen manufacturers over the last year, a number of whom are changing the design and manufacture of some of the products in their ‘accessible kitchen’ range to ensure that they are not only meeting building regulations, but also good practice guidelines. Sadly, few yet have a specific accessible kitchen brochure.

Photo courtesy of HEWI

The Church as a force for accessible design

This brings me nicely to the opportunity we have as we work together across the Church. Working this way isn’t always easy, but it is absolutely worth it. Not only is it good for those who live in the new homes, but because every project that works well makes it easier for the ones that follow - especially if we share what we have learned together.

We can help to raise awareness across the industry and change attitudes, pushing ‘standard’ practice forward. What we demand from designers and what we value, changes what they do for everyone. We can create a market for better products, and give examples to planners and local authorities that will shape their attitudes towards future projects. We can play our part as government and industry work together to raise standards (e.g. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/raising-accessibility-standards-for-new-homes/outcome/raising-accessibility-standards-for-new-homes-summary-of-consultation-responses-and-government-response).

There is lots of evidence that good choices are, over the medium term, highly cost-effective for society. It reduces the cost of future adaptations, refits or house moves.  It also means less spent on dealing with the harm to health, wellbeing and community. However, while financial cost/benefit considerations are important, they don’t contain or frame our objectives. The impact of these design decisions is long-term integrated and thriving communities where nobody is excluded because of their differing needs. These decisions enable us to remain living in our homes where we are connected with our communities, so helping to reduce our isolation and increase our mutual flourishing. We are by no means the only people or organisations with a vision for more inclusive homes, but the Church should seek to be at the forefront of putting values into practice, and working together with others to change what is possible.

Summing up…

Good inclusive design has the ability to help us flourish, not just in our own homes but also in the community around us. Inclusive homes mean neighbours can visit each other and feel comfortable. Adaptable designs mean that as needs change we can add features (such as a stairlift) and continue to access all parts of our home. Friends don’t need to move out of a neighbourhood because homes can grow and age and develop with us. These are truly satisfying and life-giving places to live: the very essence of our vision in Coming Home.

Making accessible design work in practice is not always easy. Both our understanding and what’s available is always changing. We will do better when we tackle this together…