Friday 20 May 2022

Will covid gift us a focus on design?





Many years ago I went to see my elderly landlady in hospital. I'll never forget that visit because of the way the surroundings impressed me. 

It was a rehab hospital, so there wasn't heaps of tech, no theatres etc, It was a place to gain strength before going home. The hospital had started life as a convalescent home for WW1 veterans suffering tuberculosis, old weatherboard buildings with the beds looking out through tall windows onto wide verandahs and further to the trees. The light and fresh air were abundant, birds flitted about, the floors creaked comfortingly. I thought it had to be the best place ever to recover from pretty much anything. I'm sure the reason it stuck in my memory so well was because it contrasted so spectacularly from what I expected of a hospital. I knew environment was important but that day I realised just how influential it is.

This morning I was reading about the way that covid is expected to impact housing designs: more fresh air, more infrastructure to help us connect to our neighbourhoods (things like verandahs and walkways), non-touch design so that doors and lifts open on approach, no contact delivery vestibules and better home offices, dog washing facilities and doggy doors.

It made me wonder why we need a global pandemic to make us think:

Connecting with the outdoors is just good design and may alleviate the epidemic of mental health issues that seems to have no answer (or is it just not financially exciting to work on mental health?)

Disabled people and people with arms full of groceries would appreciate no-touch doors and lifts.

Facilitating pet ownership is another thing that could have huge benefits for the community. In Australia rental properties have generally not allowed tenants to have any pets at all. Laws have changed recently but not every tenant can fight for their rights and many landlords are still using loopholes to impose stupid rules around pets. People will live on the street or in an abusive household rather than abandon a beloved animal.

For years we have had legislation around disabled access to buildings but I would still have trouble accessing 75% of Sydney homes.

If we can think about redesigning homes for a new disease, one that we are now pretending doesn't exist, why didn't we think about redesigning things for the sake of community, health and equity? And how long will it be before some of this new design trickles into the mainstream? 50 years doesn't seem a stretch to me.


A story about hospital design which serves the community.

21 comments:

  1. I understand about not being able to access buildings that supposedly have access for people with disabilities. We stayed in a motel and asked for a disability accessible room. I had to walk too far to get the the lobby and too far to get to the room with no assistance from anyone. Tommy needs to move himself.

    I had to move a huge wing chair so Tommy could get to the coffeemaker. We asked for two beds and got one. We were told we were getting two rooms. I could barely get behind the bed to get into it.

    The bathroom was the only good part. We could shower without stepping over a threshhold. And, there was a seat that folded down. I forget what the problem with mirrors and vanity were.

    We had to leave for the reunion and return at night in the pitch dark of the parking lot.
    When I complained about how far I had to walk, I was told I could have/should have used the entrance next to our room, that was why we were so far from the lobby. Well, there was a curb I could not navigate and about 8 steps up to the door for the building.

    I complained to corporate and they were shocked at what I described, so shocked they had someone investigate on site. At the end of two weeks, they said the establishment would fully refund our costs.

    On top of all this, when someone from housekeeping should have been sent to our room, a man from maintenance came! Corporate was as appalled as we were.

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    1. We were told we were getting two beds.
      I could have navigated the stairs and the curb, but not without fear of a fall. Tommy could not at all.

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    2. I hear you. I generally find newish public buildings to have good access because the access laws apply to them. Older buildings and residential buildings are exempt so they are very often impossible.
      Accommodation is very hit & miss. I recently used a "disabled access" motel room wnich had a threshold at the door, so not suitable for wheelchairs or walkers and it had a single grab rail in the huge shower so there was support near the door but not near the shower/ taps.
      I have friends who bought a lovely, brand new house. There is no hand rail on the three entry steps so I have to phone them from the front door for assistance.
      I'm glad your money was refunded. Who ever thinks that 8 steps is accessible? (and of course that was not all)

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  2. Conservatively speaking I am in 10000 per cent agreement with you. Yes, we supposedly have access rules. I can remember trying to get my mama into a five star hotel for a function we were attending. The only access she could use (and it relied on us being there to escort/push her) was around the back and through the kitchens....

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    1. Yes, that's just miserable and humiliating. Hopefully the five star places have upgraded since then.

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    2. Not that one. Its access for people with disabilities is still through the kitchens.

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    3. Thats just contempt and they are asking for WHS action against them as well

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  3. We are in this design state as we want to close others out. We carefully keep ourselves apart from others. We also see that changing costs us many. we have many more reasons not to change design...all of them wrong.

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    1. I had to think about that, Red, keeping ourselves apart and i have to say i think you are right.

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  4. My older daughter is an Occupational Therapist, and she spends her days trying to make people's homes safer and suitable for when they come out of hospital. I'm learning a great deal about grab rails etc. Problem is, all this costs a lot of money.

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    1. These things are a lot of money for a household but they are not for society. It's cheaper if it is part of the design/ build process instead of an add on and there would be other savings made....

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  5. I suspect my earlier comment has gone to the spam folder. Can you check for me please?

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  6. I wish they would allow the community friendly designs, but as Joey said, it’s all about money and profits - it’s extremely short-sighted.
    Sx

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    1. I bad design costs more in the long run but the cost is probably handed to another link in the system so there's no incentive to change

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  7. Too many homes are still aimed at physically fit people. It's no surprise that you would find 75% of Sydney homes hard to access. Too many UK homes are still built with two floors, which doesn't cater for anyone with mobility problems or difficulty getting up and down stairs.

    That does sound like a great rehab hospital, one that would surely speed up your recovery and return home.

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    1. My understanding is that the UK doesn't have space for single level homes? Having said that, there must be options for people who can't manage stairs.

      I looked up the hospital before I wrote the post, it seems that the old buildings are gone but the redevelopment definitely has something of the same atmosphere, which is a nice nod to the past

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  8. I'm in a seniors' building and all doors are five tons, no automatic, and STEPS up to bring in groceries. It's an everest for me some days. Our garbage is located so far away I have to use my car to get there. I could go on. But I count us lucky we have an elevator as even some recently designed four storey seniors' buildings have NONE. Great post Kylie.
    XO
    WWW

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    1. I really don't know who thinks that kind of thing is acceptable.

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  9. COVID has made us reconsider plenty of things - including transport. I must admit that I had not thought of house design but you are right.

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    1. I knew there was a trend towards people wanting home office space but a designed specifically for covid also has extra bathrooms etc.

      https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-05-20/covid-19-pandemic-home-house-design-how-it-is-changing/101077024

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