How Inclusive design is a key driver to society
Universal Design, Inclusive Design, Design for All. We hear these terms almost every day, but where do they come from, what do they actually mean, and how do they apply ...
Designing a Megacity for Mental Health
A new report assesses how Tokyo’s infrastructure affects residents’ emotional well-being, offering lessons for other cities ...
Inclusive Design Studio: The Children’s Museum
The University at Buffalo, School of Architecture and Design inclusive design studio takes on the topic of the Children’s Museum at Buffalo’s Canalside as a way of investigating spaces where ...
Improve your community through the power of design
Have you ever wondered why abandoned or dilapidated buildings lie vacant for years on end, why traffic patterns isolate people from businesses, or why there are so few safe and ...
Good hospital design can improve quality of care
Few experiences are more difficult than enduring a hospital stay. But unlike in years past, patients can now educate themselves on both healthcare providers and facilities, much like for many ...
Science Is Proving Why Urban Design Matters More Than Ever
Benches and greenery may seem inconsequential, but a new study quantifies how deeply they impact the civic life of a city ...
Blog: How good design can support inclusion of autistic children in mainstream schools
Children with autism have a range of particular needs when it comes to the ideal learning environment, and these are unlikely to be provided for by standard classroom design. The ...
How Wheelchair Accessibility Ramped Up
Ramps evolved from a Greek tool for dragging ships to the front lines of disability activism. An Object Lesson ...
Restaurants Haven’t Lived Up to the Promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Disabled diners on the issues they most commonly face — and how to fix them ...
How design can help inclusive growth
This week the Inclusive Growth Commission published their final findings and recommendation after an independent enquiry into how the UK can achieve inclusive growth ...
‘Man in Motion’ Rick Hansen says more incentives needed to design accessible buildings
Canada's Man in Motion Rick Hansen says creating a program for celebrating and certifying accessible buildings — patterned on one that certifies buildings for environmental design — could encourage building designers to create more inclusive spaces ...
These Hospitals Are Designed To Help You Heal Faster
The winners of the National Healthcare Design Awards show how where you get your health care can have a big effect on the outcomes ...
Designing for Alzheimer’s using the Goals of Universal Design
Designing meaningful environments that help people thrive is a primary objective of Universal Design. There is a growing body of evidence-based design research that demonstrates the many benefits resulting from ...
Norway to showcase inclusive design at London Design Biennale
Norway’s contribution to London’s first Design Biennale in September is Reaching for Utopia – Inclusive Design in Practice, an exhibition of civic projects that make the case for inclusive design ...
Universal Design new standard in accessibility
University of Nevada, Reno's Pennington Student Achievement Center, have been built with universal design in mind. The classrooms have been set up in a way that allows everyone to see ...
Designing an Active, Healthier City
Despite a firm reputation for being walkers, New Yorkers have an obesity epidemic on their hands. Lee Altman, a former employee of New York City’sDepartment of Design and Construction, explains ...
WHY ACCESSIBILITY SHOULD BE PART OF TORONTO’S MUSIC CITY STRATEGY
Accessibility should be a top priority to make Toronto a Music City. Absent from the city-council-approved Toronto Music Strategy is a plan to address the widespread inaccessibility of our live ...
United Nations teams up with MIT to overhaul “very top-down” refugee design strategy
UNHCR has teamed up with D-Lab, a unit at Massachusetts Institute of Technology that develops user-centred design strategies, to explore ways of empowering refugee communities ...
Disability rights groups sue MTA for excluding elevator at newly renovated Bronx subway station
The MTA is rolling over the rights of disabled people by failing to make newly renovated stations wheelchair accessible, a new class action lawsuit charges. In papers filed in Manhattan ...
How to Build Inclusive Cities
How do we build cities in which everyone—regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, age, or ability—can live and thrive? Unfortunately, no silver-bullet answers or cookie-cutter solutions exist. But there are ...
How TD Bank HQ achieved WELL certification
Landlord-tenant partnership leads to world's first v1 certification under WELL standard An interiors project for TD Bank headquarters, located in the TD Centre in downtown Toronto, recently became the world’s ...
New York City and Nonprofit Clash Over Accessibility of Roosevelt Memorial
Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park opened on Roosevelt Island four years ago, City Hall has been arguing with the nonprofit group that built and runs the park ...
Creating Inclusive Environments with DeafSpace Architecture
The Deaf community live in a world designed for people who can hear, but a new design movement challenges how buildings should be built, where sensory experiences and interaction with ...
A day in the life of accessible design: the case of the invisible lift – Part 2
On reaching the automatic sliding glass doors at the North Entrance, you will find a call button for assistance if needed on the wall to the left of the doors ...
A Lesson in Universal Design: How to Make Stairs Safer for All
One of the most dangerous stairs people encounter each day are the ones leading into the house from the garage. Often these are cheap, prebuilt MDF stairs that are narrow, ...
Design for Everybody
Whether it’s a corridor plan for two blocks in small-town USA or a blockbuster master plan worthy of a national award, planners have to design for all users of the ...
Universal Design
Level Playing Field: A group of recent projects demonstrates that true universal design goes beyond mere accessibility ...
An Open Letter to Restaurateurs and Restaurant Staff
I love eating out! I really do. Eating out lets me experience flavors, sights, and sounds from around the world. If the staff and restaurant have made for a good experience, ...
How To Design For Autism
Problem: many autistic kids are super sensitive to the sight, sound, and feel of their environment. So when New York-Presbyterian decided to build an early intervention center for autistic children, ...
Improved access: Disabled, advocates see progress in public accommodations
People with disabilities and officials say Columbia is a good place to live for those with a disability, but challenges still exist and improvements are needed. Advances in technology, particularly ...
A day in the life of accessible design: the case of the invisible lift – Part 1
The idealised format of modern living and design requires space, light and a lack of clutter in design and spatial planning. This ideal has evidently been at the forefront of ...
Grand Rapids YMCA is first building to adopt universal design standards
The University at Buffalo’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center), in collaboration with the Global Universal Design Commission (GUDC), has developed the first set of universal design ...
An auditorium specially designed for those with disabilities
Going to the movies or seeing a performance can be challenging for people with disabilities. The hard of hearing struggle to decipher speech amid background noise and reverberation, while those ...
Most New York City Elementary Schools Are Violating Disabilities Act, Investigation Finds
A two-year federal investigation has concluded that 83 percent of New York City’s public elementary schools are not “fully accessible” to children with disabilities, in violation of the Americans With ...
Hotel Centered Around Workers With Special Needs Set To Open
A first-of-its-kind, fully-functioning teaching hotel designed to provide job training and employment for people with disabilities is ready to open its doors ...
Better by Design: Hospital architecture can help patients heal
When an architect plans a new hospital, she’s doing more than designing rooms in which doctors meet sick patients and work to make them well. She’s designing a space through ...
Mary Free Bed YMCA opens doors
West Michigan is now home to a “first-of-its-kind” YMCA. The new Mary Free Bed YMCA in Cascade Township will be the first YMCA facility in the world to receive a ...
Deafness, disability and design: the case of ‘Deaf Village Ireland’
I have been visiting Deaf Village Ireland regularly over the past nine months, speaking and walking through it with management, staff and users of the centre. Located in Cabra, in ...
Mary Free Bed YMCA the First Building in the World to have Universal Design Certification
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – September 15, 2015 –The YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids has partnered with the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University and the Center for Inclusive Design ...
Should Business Care about Universal Design?
Universal design needs to cross into mainstream design to service a growing market driven by changing demographics and a socially responsible business world looking for new opportunities. Universal design has ...
Arkansas Universal Design Mobile Display
The Arkansas Universal Design Mobile Display is a Universally Designed display bathroom built inside of a trailer. The trailer can be reserved by home shows, county fairs, professional conferences, and ...
Bathroom design with dementia in mind
Dr. Birgit Dietz explains the background thoughts in the development of the age and dementia-sensitive washbasin, which she designed together with HEWI. She is a visiting lecturer in the Hospital ...
Mayo Clinic to Study the Health Effects of the Built Environment
Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors—from homes to office or work environments, schools, retail stores, fitness centers, health care facilities, and more—which means exposure to indoor ...
