Make at least some units ground-floor, step-free and fitted with doors wide enough for a wheelchair or a stretcher, so that people who age or are injured can stay in their homes. A ramp at a 1:12 slope needs 12 m of run for every metre of rise, so a base raised 30 cm above grade for moisture protection needs a ramp about 3.6 m long, which must be planned before the walls are laid out.
Part of Multi-Family Housing Design
Accessibility and aging in place is the design of homes so that residents with reduced strength, balance or mobility can continue to live in them without moving.
Plan For The Resident You Will Become
The multi-family guide says that at least some units should be ground-floor, step-free and wide-doored enough for someone with limited mobility, because members of the community will age or be injured and need housing that fits without relocation. Stacked housing is hard for the elderly and disabled, which is one reason to keep a stacked building’s lower floor for the least mobile (Apartment-Style).
Worked Example: The Cost Of A Step
Inputs: raised base height 30 cm, the stem-wall height that keeps straw bales off the ground (Foundations and Stem Walls); ramp slope 1:12, the figure in Wheelchair-Accessible Design, which also gives a turning circle of about 1.5 m.
- Rise = 0.30 m.
- Run = 0.30 × 12 = 3.6 m.
- Slope as a percentage = 1 ÷ 12 = 8.3%.
If the doorway is on a 1 m raised platform, the run is 12 m. A bale wall must stay off the ground, so for those units accept the ramp, or site the step-free unit where the ground rises to the door so the entrance is on the high side. Do not lower the base to save the ramp.
What Wide Means
The gathering-hall guide specifies a clear opening of at least 120 cm for stretcher access to the hall. For a house door the wheelchair is the control: common accessibility practice is a clear opening of about 815 mm (32 inches). That figure is not stated elsewhere in this corpus, so confirm it against the chair in use. A door that opens inward onto a small room can block the turning circle, so hang it to swing into the larger space or use a sliding door.
What You Need
- A list of residents who are old, injured or disabled and what they need
- Ground-floor plots with a level approach
- A tape and a chair to test doorways before building
Method
Step 1: Reserve ground-floor units at the settlement planning stage, in clusters, with a level route to the communal core (Path Network Design).
Step 2: Remove steps: build at grade or provide a ramp at 1:12 or gentler, with a flat landing at the door.
Step 3: Widen doors and passages to suit a wheelchair and a stretcher.
Step 4: Adapt the toilet and bath (Wheelchair-Accessible Design, Shared Bathing and Laundry).
Step 5: Review each year and reassign units when needs change.
Common Mistakes
- Raising the floor for damp protection and then needing a long ramp.
- A narrow door to the toilet or bedroom.
- Gravel or chip paths that wheels sink into.
Safety
The least mobile need the fastest way out
People who cannot climb stairs or run cannot escape from upper floors in a fire. Put them on the ground floor with a door to open air, and keep the route to the assembly point smooth and clear (Emergency Assembly Areas).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Private Family Units: Minimum Sizes — turning space inside a unit
- Combine with: Privacy Gradients — thresholds that do not become barriers