Whether it’s a mixed-ability housing project, a private-pay refurbishment or a multi- generational home, accessibility can be one of the hardest areas to navigate when it comes Stuart Reynolds, UK Marketing & Product Management Director at AKW, looks at overcoming key pitfalls to delivering accessible bathrooms, and discusses
General accessibility bathrooms are the most specified and these can be found in new-builds, social housing, public buildings, retirement and care properties and large refurbishment projects. As they are not being designed for a specific set of user needs, universal accessibility standards are applied. In the main this involves the specifier being guided by the Approved Document M (Doc M), BS 8300, housing association design advice, local authority inclusivity standards and manufacturer’s specifications. For a specific individual with a diagnosis however, the occupational therapist’s report is the main driver, with every area of the design tailored to clinical measurements and medical consideration.
Accessible bathroom specification guidance
Although the Building Regulations Approved Document M (AD M) provides statutory guidance, a better accessibility tool to consider using during the specification process of general accessibility bathrooms is BS 8300:2018. The reason for this is that it goes beyond minimum standard compliance. For example, when it comes to colour and tonal contrast Doc M talks about visual contrast between sanitary fittings, grab rails, doors, floors, and walls but doesn’t detail the level of contrast that would be deemed ‘sufficient’, how to measure it or how to select products to achieve it.
Retirement and Care specific restrictions When it comes to specifying general accessibility bathrooms in the retirement and care sector, the challenges can increase. This is because: • Doc M works well in setting minimum legal standards, but architects need to ensure that CQC (Care Quality Commission) standards are met for bathrooms in care facilities. • The average length of stay in a care home is under 2 years and 7-8 years for retirement properties, therefore bathrooms need to be designed to accommodate a wide range of end user needs.
• The composition of senior housing has seen an increase in mixed tenure and rental only options in housing schemes. This, combined with the fact that 29% of beds lack en-suite facilities and 70% don’t have a full wet room, creates a need for clever design.
Ensuring cost-effective, waste-free specification The three most common specification pitfalls AKW’s technical team regularly sees, that can impact budgets and sustainability targets are:
Pitfall 1 – Specification of the standard Doc M kit in residential retirement and care applications can lead to waste. Originally created by manufacturers to make specification more straightforward for public buildings, when used in other situations some of the products that arrive on site are not needed (such as toilet back rests, single sheet screw on mirrors etc). These products often end up in the skip. A more cost-effective and less wasteful solution is to pick individual components.
Pitfall 2 – In retirement and care situations, the wrong products are often specified
as most retirement living bathrooms are designed with the needs of a 65-year-old in mind. However, the actual purchasers are more likely to be 80, and their needs are significantly different. It is possible to bridge this customer purchasing gap however, with some knowledge about the products that are out there that either future-proof the space or look good but combine multiple uses.
Pitfall 3 – Relying on the Building Regulation’s Doc M ‘one size for all’ approach to accessible bathroom guidance. With some additional knowledge from accessible living experts, specifications can be cost- effectively ‘tweaked’ to accommodate more ‘hidden’ needs, such as for those living with dementia or visible impairment.
Although accessible bathroom specification can be difficult to get right, thoughtful design and the use of the right products, significantly improves the quality of life for the end user. By tapping into the wider expertise that is out there from manufacturers such as AKW, the result can be functional, to budget and stylish too.
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