The Accessible Housing Design File
Product Type: Book
Product Price: $95.00
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Description
Architecture The Accessible Housing Design File Barrier Free Environments, Inc. "… an invaluable resource to everyone involved with the design, construction, and management of housing for older and disabled individuals. The amount of information on each topics is the most extensive I have ever seen.…" —Elaine Ostroff, Adaptive Environments Center Boston, Massachusetts New legislation on accessibility has made it tough for designers and builders to create environments that are both aesthetically pleasing and accommodate people with disabilities The Accessible Housing Design File helps you comply with the latest accessibility standards and keep up with the increasing demand for more universal housing. Responding to the accessibility standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), this guide covers the special design and construction considerations of environments for people with mobility impairments. It also contains some design solutions to access problems for people with visual and hearing impairments. Both interior and exterior environments are addressed in chapters that take you from site planning through selection of door hardware. Site designs, room layouts, floor plans, jargon-free explanations, and 300 detailed illustrations convey whole settings and provide you with fully dimensioned solutions to tough design problems. These design solutions will help you to create new housing as well as renovate existing single- and multi-family residences to increase accessibility. The Accessible Housing Design File emphasizes both universally usable and marketable environments that have excellent resale value. It covers the full gamut of accessible design and construction options for:
- Vehicular transportation and parking—Accessible vans, carports, and garages
- Site design and entrances—House placement, sloping sites, walks, crossings, bridges, lifts, ramps, and handrails
- Doors and doorways—Handles, locks, power openers, hallways, floor space, screen and storm doors, door widening, and door swings
- Windows—Forward reach and side reach windows, power operators, and windows as exits
- Kitchens—Knee and turnaround space, adjustable-height cabinets and counters, appliance siting, and control and handle placement
- Bathrooms—Grab bars, hydraulic seats, portable boom lifts, overhead track lifts, removable tub seats, tub controls, transfer and roll-in showers, and lavatory design
- Bedrooms—Maneuvering space and clearances, transfers at beds, lifts, communications and control systems, emergency exits, and equipment storage
Reviews
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-04
Summary: "Excellent resource - not out of date!"
The publication date of this book - 1991 - gave me pause; building codes and ideas about accessible design have progressed significantly over the last 20 years. However, it has exceeded my expectations, and I have no doubt that it will be very useful to the interior design students served by my library.
As stated in the Introduction, "The Design File is a 'how-to' manual for those interested in pursuing the ambitious and worthwhile goal of universal usability... Each chapter offers design solutions which are clearly illustrated, extensively dimensioned, and accompanied by jargon-free explanations of why certain features are necessary to people with various levels of physical ability."
Each chapter focuses on an element of the home: vehicular transportation and parking, entrances and site design, doors and doorways, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Although the explanations, drawings and diagrams are detailed, they illustrate principles of accessibility and usability that do not change over time, so every page is as relevant today as it was in 1991.
The focus of this book is on housing, but many of the principles apply equally to public space. This is an essential volume for any collection supporting interior designers, architects and planners.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-02-28
Summary: "Accessible Housing Design File"
This book is a great resource guide for information and illustrations regarding retrofitting a home to be more accessible to people with disabilities or for those that want to age-at-home.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2007-05-24
Summary: "Aging -in-place design"
This is an excellent, easy to read book with large print and good drawings. It covers all aspects in detail. If you want to remodel or build this book will tell you in very easy to understand language what to do.