Building for the future: 'Universal design' has mobility in mind

By Cheryl Wilson

Published on January 11, 2008

Steep steps from the driveway, doors too narrow for wheelchairs, upstairs bedrooms and cramped showers are all huge challenges for people with mobility problems. Retrofitting an existing house for handicapped access can be expensive and frustrating, so more and more older Americans are choosing to build a new handicapped-accessible house with what are called "universal design" features.

Several years ago, Joan Rising, a retired art professor at Greenfield Community College, realized that her increasing muscle weakness from postpolio syndrome was going to make her home in North Amherst difficult. The raised ranch she and her husband, Ted Rising, a retired industrial engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts, built 35 years ago had eight steps from the driveway and the interior stairs were too narrow for a chair lift.

They looked at single-level houses to remodel but that would be expensive, she said. "It can cost $1,000 to widen a door in an existing house but only $10 extra to build a new wide door," Rising said in an interview last week. "We explored every possibility."

They were quite discouraged until, during a vacation in North Carolina, an old friend took them to the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. It was a real eye-opener, Rising said. (www.design.ncsu.edu/cud)

Universal design is based on the premise that housing can be handicapped accessible and flexible for all users without unsightly ramps and enormous expense. The Risings discovered there are even attractive modular homes based on universal design. And The Home Store, a prominent national modular company, has showrooms in Whately.

"We weren't sure we wanted a prefab, but it has been wonderful in so many ways," Rising said. "It's a very energy efficient home. They did a good job and they had good people working for them."

The Risings have been living in their three-bedroom modular home for five years now. Rising said she often has requests from friends and even strangers for a tour of the universal-design features.

There is a growing interest in modular houses that feature universal design because baby boomers are looking ahead to a time when they might need assistance in their homes, said Andy Gianino, local president of The Home Store, who worked with the Risings.

"There is no question that the Rising home isn't a plan out of a book," Gianino added. "We sat down together and designed it from scratch."

Manorwood, one of the companies that produce modular units for the Home Store, constructed a "T-Cape" display house with universal design very similar to the Risings' home for the national convention of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in Boston last year, Gianino said. A universal design modular house costs about 1 to 2 percent more to construct than a standard house, he said.

"It wasn't more expensive than we expected," Rising said. "For what we got, it was very reasonable."

Universal design features

"The main thing is that it's on one floor," Rising said. "The traffic pattern makes me able to move around the house. There is no place I can't get to in this house."

The living room, dining room, kitchen and entranceway are designed in an open plan with easy circulation. The hallway to the three bedrooms is much wider than usual, giving a spacious air to the house as well as making use of a wheelchair easier. Rising uses a cane and sometimes a walker but doesn't need a wheelchair. But, her son-in-law, Alan Musgrave, who does use a wheelchair, can visit the Rising home easily because of the layout.

A fluid traffic pattern with multiple routes through the main rooms is critical to good universal design, said Thomas McCarthy, an old friend of the Risings who advised them on the design and construction of their house. McCarthy is director of the universal access program for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Proper grading for a stepless, level threshold and having an outdoor room are also critical to the success of a universal design house, McCarthy said. The Rising home has a flat area at the top of the driveway, a subtly inclined walkway to the level front door and minimal ramps from the garage into the house. Rising said McCarthy advised having several doors to the wraparound deck, which was buried under snow last week.

Most of the accessibility features are so well integrated into the design that Rising has to point them out to visitors.

Few people notice that the doorways are a full 36 inches wide instead of the standard 32 inches. Throughout the house electrical switches are about six inches lower on walls than in conventional homes and plug-in outlets are about six inches higher. It's an unobtrusive feature designed for easy use from a wheelchair. Another standard for universal design is the lever door handles that replace slippery knobs. And, finally, closet doors are bi-fold so they don't get in the way of a wheelchair.

Kitchen design

The kitchen is a cook's dream while being fully handicapped accessible. All the base cabinets, for instance, are drawers that glide shut with the touch of a fingertip. "There are drawers for spices, drawers for utensils, deep drawers for large kettles and serving pieces," Rising said.

A very small island in the middle of the kitchen isn't for food preparation. Instead it's a way station between the Formica counters and the floor-to-ceiling storage cabinets with deep sliding shelves along the living room wall. Rising said it's a godsend since she can use her cane with one hand and transfer cans or jars from the cabinet with her other hand to the island. A wheelchair can circle the small island easily.

"Keep as much open space under a counter in a kitchen as possible," is McCarthy's usual advice, but the Risings chose the sliding drawers instead, while making sure the cabinet doors under the sink are removable if wheelchair access is needed.

The bathroom is the other place where handicapped accessible features are essential, McCarthy said. Rising has a curbless, walk-in, roll-in shower stall. She can sit on a slatted bench on one side close to the shower controls and operate a hand-held shower spray that easily reaches the bench. There is a roll-in space under the bathroom sink and the toilet bowl is slightly higher than usual. The room also has a pocket door to eliminate space wasted by a swinging door. The room is wide enough not only to allow the requisite five-and-a-half-foot turning radius for a wheelchair but also to provide space for a personal care assistant.

Construction of the house was fascinating, Rising said. "The house came in four units and they stored them up at Puffer's Pond." One unit is the kitchen and dining room, another comprises the long living room and the other two units house the bedrooms. The "marriage wall" between the living room and the kitchen doubles as storage.

As each unit arrived at the Risings' lot, it was hoisted by a crane onto the pre-poured foundation. Workers directed the crane operators with hand signals and were so accurate they could shift the unit by as little as three-quarters of an inch, she recalled. "By this time, the neighbors had set up chairs to watch," she said. It was wonderful entertainment.

Entertaining, daily life

The Risings' house is a wonderful place to entertain. The dining room table, a 100-year-old massive Chinese teak antique, "heavy as lead," expands to seat 22, she said. The extra leaves are kept in the storage wall in the kitchen that also houses a broom closet and the two food storage units.

Every Thursday morning, the Horse Mountain Jazz Band rehearses in the Risings' living room. Ted Rising is the banjo player in the seven-person group. The Risings' bedroom is filled with instruments and a bass fiddle rests in the living room across from a spinet piano. "Neighbors and friends often stop by on Thursday for a cup of coffee and listen to the rehearsal," Rising said.

Joan Rising's new home is fully-equipped with universal design features that make her daily living so much easier. It is also a charming house full of light. One special feature that has nothing to with accessibility is the solar tube in the hallway, a narrow skylight, which is fitted with prisms. "When the sun is shining, it makes rainbows all over," Rising said. She wishes they had installed more such tubes. Just putting in the bay window in the dining room lets light inside late in the day. "You don't feel so confined," Rising said.

The Risings built for the future, planning for the day when Joan might have to use a wheelchair. They also allowed for space in the attic for a multi-room apartment complete with extra-wide stairs for a potential chair lift. The attic could house an office or family member or "if we needed to hire someone to live with us and help care for us," Rising said.

The Risings' new home is fully accessible for people with handicaps, a welcoming place for friends, and a light and cheerful space even on dark days. Much of universal design is simply common sense, McCarthy said. And it can be aesthetically pleasing. "If it's ugly, it's not good design," McCarthy said.

Valley Homes appears twice monthly. Cheryl Wilson welcomes suggestions for houses and apartments to be featured. Contact her at valleyhomes@comcast.net.