Building Smarter

     I was flipping through builder magazine the other day when i stumbled upon this article on building universally designed houses. Universal design is defined as the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Ok so i really love this idea the kitchen in a integral part of a house for it to not be accessible by everyone in your house is not very smart  . Universal design doesn't just apply to people in wheelchairs either small children and smaller adults are also affected by these non-universal design. Here's an example of a universally designed kitchen see if you notice any differences.

Here's what they where thinking when they drew up this design, lower-height counters in strategic food prep areas, lower-height wall cabinets for ease of reach, knee space areas for handicap access, strategically placed blend of task, ambient, and accent lighting, and sight lines to exterior spaces. Very beautiful and functional these universal designs are really catching on and for good reason, we aren't all built the same why should our kitchens? here's one of the pages from the Builder article in which they took a bedroom  floor plan a re design to "offer more mileage from the same footprint".

A few other good Universal Design idea are, Smooth ground level entrances without stairs, Higher base cabinet height at the kitchen entrance for wheelchairs and small children, a pullout shelf below a wall oven enabling safe transfer of food, installing false cabinet doors at work areas to be opened for additional wheelchair leg room, and Wide interior doors, hallways, and alcoves with 60" × 60" turning space at doors and dead-ends. Well guys and gals i hope you enjoyed my take on universal design and i hope you take some of these ideas into consideration when u go to build or rebuild your house.