The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is promoting the need for inclusive design with a new report which seeks to empower stakeholders from architects and clients to operators.
The RIBA’s inclusive design overlay draws on insight from more than 100 practitioners from 25 professions, representing 50 built environment companies, bodies, and organisations in what is the first industry-coordinated technical framework for delivering inclusive design.
Pareisse Wilson, Inclusive Design Overlay Project Lead and Inclusive Design Strategy Lead at Motionspot, said the overlay should discourage the practice of seeing inclusive design as an add-on.
Instead, the overlay encourages weaving inclusivity and accessibility together to create a good design process, where everyone is given the confidence to contribute to the inclusive design strategy, work closely with the inclusive design lead and engage user groups.
In presenting the report, Pareisse set three key principles of inclusive design.
On placing people at the heart of the design process, she said: “Designing inclusively means making sure that you are engaging with people who are going to use the space, the product, or the environment.
“If we are designing for an eclectic range of people – from diverse faith groups through to people with different disabilities – then the engagement of people with these characteristics and identities should be at the heart of the design process throughout the project.”
She also underlined the need to create and provide options in design: “It is vital that when anyone goes to a space they have options that work, so they can equitably engage with the environment.
“For some people that might be the choice between an all gender, gender-neutral, male or female toilet. For others, an inclusive option is having access to a wheelchair accessible, ambulant disabled or Changing Places toilet.
“Similarly, the provision of a dedicated quiet room, prayer/reflection space or baby feeding facility can meet an individual’s specific needs. That would be true inclusion. It is really important that those options are offered so that everyone feels seen, acknowledged, and can engage with the environment.”
The other priority is to create an environment where everyone feels safe and welcome: “Making sure everyone feels they can use a space independently is so important. For me personally I have Dyspraxia (DCD), and there’s nothing more frustrating than when I enter a space when there are no maps and directional arrows to help me navigate a building.
“Someone who is anxious, someone who has dementia, someone experiencing migraines, someone with a health condition that requires regular trips to facilities such as toilets, will feel more in control and more welcome when they know how to navigate the environment. Instead of seeing inclusive wayfinding as a feature only for those with accessibility requirements, we should see it as good design, fundamentally.”
