aeck a303 universal design is good design (part one)€¦ · disability access (ccda. as an...

The information included in this transcript is provided as a general resource. Users of this information should conduct additional research, check their local building codes and verify all information before applying it to their practices or to specific circumstances. _____________________________________________________________________________________

aecKnowledge.com © 2014 aecKnowledge TM and AIA California Council

Accessibility: Universal Design is Good Design (Part One)

Narrated by Steven Castellanos, FAIA Executive Director for the California Commission on Disability Access (September, 2014)

Course Description

AIA Learning Units: 1.0 hours (HSW)

In June of 2014, the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge released a Call for Submissions for examples of solutions that illustrate the innovative potential of Universal Design and that address specific accessibility code issues. This 60-minute video course features some of the most innovative submissions of both built and unbuilt work.

Steve Castellanos, FAIA, the Executive Director for the California Commission on Disability Access (CCDA) and a former California State Architect, narrates and provides insightful commentary on how each solution addresses the needs of people with a wide range of ability levels, how the solution can improve people’s abilities to navigate and effectively function in the built environment, and how building owners, design professionals and people with disabilities can apply the solution to improve the built environment for everyone.

This course qualifies for 1.0 hours of approved AIA continuing education credit (HSW), complies with California licensure requirements regarding accessibility and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.

This course was produced in 2014 and reflects codes and standards in effect at the time. As codes, standards and interpretations are subject to change, viewers should check current codes and standards with regards to accessibility. These include the California Building Code (CBC), the International Building Code (IBC along with the ICC A117.1) and the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Standards (2010 ADA). Viewers should also discuss specific circumstances with building code officials and with regulatory and other agencies that have jurisdiction over their specific projects.

Learning Objectives

1. Gain insight into solving accessible design challenges for existing structures and new buildings

2. Review critical aspects of the California Building Code and the American with Disabilities Standards as they pertain to accessible design

3. Understand how innovative Universal Design solutions can improve the lives of those with physical, sensory, psychological or other challenges

4. Understand how innovative design can dramatically improve people’s abilities to navigate and function in the built environment

About the Narrator:

This course is narrated by Stephan Castellanos, FAIA, the current Executive Director for the California Commission on Disability Access (CCDA. As an architect, general contractor and businessperson, Steve understands the importance of providing accessible facilities for all, and the myriad of issues affecting the design and construction industry in attaining this important goal.

From 2000 – 2004, Steve was California’s State Architect where he oversaw over a thousand K-12 and community college construction project plans annually to ensure code compliance and oversight of construction and testing. Steve has also served as a Board Member on the Collaborative for High Performing Schools. Throughout his career, Steve has designed and guided others in creating more helpful and enriching environments for people with various levels of physical abilities.



CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

I’m Steve Castellanos. The topic is Universal Design is Good Design, Part One. This is what you need to know.

In June of 2014, the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge released a Call for Submissions for examples of solutions that illustrate the innovative potential of Universal Design and that address specific accessibility code issues. Each submission of original built and unbuilt work was peer-reviewed for how well the solution addressed the needs of people with a wide range of ability levels, for how it can improve people’s abilities to navigate and effectively function in the built environment, and for how building owners, design professionals and people with disabilities can apply the solution to improve the built environment for everyone.

Part 1 of this course highlights some of the exemplary submissions of both built and unbuilt work. You can view each submission online in this video and also download a transcript.

In addition, you can download the accessible design resources that accompany this course. After you view this video and review the downloadable resources, you can take the 10-question multiple choice quiz, which will reinforce your learning. And after you pass this quiz, which I assume you will if you pay attention, a Certificate of Completion will automatically download to your computer.

CHAPTER TWO: AMERICAN RIVER COLLEGE STUDENT CENTER

Our first project is courtesy of LPAS Architecture + Design. It’s the American River College Center of Los Rios Community College in Sacramento, California.

(American River College Student Center, Sacramento, CA. Client: Los Rios Community College District. Architect: LPAS Architecture + Design. Photo Credits: John Swain Photography)

The new American River College Student Center replaces an antiquated cafeteria that was accessible from only one side of the building. The site slopes significantly, which presented major design challenges in meeting ADA accessibility requirements.



To tackle this challenge, the architect addressed the Universal Design goals of equitable accessibility and flexibility in use by designing the main student gathering areas as a series of indoor and outdoor tiers that follow the terrain of the site. A series of outdoor plazas, connected by sloped walkways that are accessible to the interior, feature seating, landscaping and overhead shading. Interior lounge space parallels the outdoor plazas, resulting in a series of uninterrupted interior levels that step down through the space.

These levels are connected with a ramp under a sky-lit gallery accommodating access to students, faculty and visitors of all abilities. The success of this strategy is evident in the increased number of students and staff using the new building with ease and independence, a sharp contrast to the previously underutilized and inaccessible portions of the building.

Among the ADA and California Building codes addressed in this project:

1103B.1 – Building Accessibility

1114B.1.2 – Accessible Route of Travel

2007 CBC, Chapter 11B

One of the things I really liked about this building is how inviting it is and how welcoming it is to people of all abilities. People can join each other, friends and family, inside the building and outside the building, without feeling threatened that they would be separated or in any not included and integrated as part of the entire student community on campus. It’s a wonderful solution, nicely accomplished.



CHAPTER THREE: McCOPPIN HUB (Unbuilt)

Our next project is courtesy of Boor Bridges Architecture. It’s McCoppin Hub in San Francisco.

(McCoppin Hub, San Francisco, CA (unbuilt). Architect: Boor Bridges Architecture. Illustration Credits: Boor Bridges Architecture)

The McCoppin Hub is a multi-use community park designed for an unusable portion of street, truncated by a freeway onramp, in San Francisco’s vibrant Mission District. The design addresses a fundamental need to integrate wheelchair accessibility into a small space with a steep (8.5%) slope, while also accommodating farmers markets, food truck events, and outdoor film viewing.



Inspired by the switchback roads of San Francisco’s steepest hills, Boor Bridges Architecture strategically designed a series of sloped walks, partially-raised planter beds, and multiple benches that accommodate adjacent wheelchair seating. By avoiding the use of handrails and other obvious accessibility elements, the park will perform as one continuous space that functions for all people and uses. At McCoppin Hub, accessibility requirements determine the design while adding character.

This is a great solution for a steep urban slight. The ramps really are the solution. And they’re not really ramps. At 1:20 broad, they form a meandering place for people of all abilities. It’s a fun solution. It accommodates many solutions. It’s just a great place.



CHAPTER FOUR: ALAMEDA COUNTY COURTHOUSE

Our next project is courtesy of Zachary Nathan Architects with Arnold Lerner. It’s the Alameda County Courthouse, by General Services Agency of Alameda County.

(Alameda County Courthouse, Oakland, CA. Client: General Services Agency of Alameda County. Architect: Zachary Nathan, AIA, CASP, with Arnold Lerner, AIA, CASP. Illustration Credits: Zachary Nathan, AIA, CASp)

As a part of its commitment to meeting the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the County of Alameda provided access to a primary entrance to the Alameda County Courthouse for the physically disabled while preserving the historic character of the building. This was achieved with the addition of a 90-foot long suspended concrete ramp and modifications to the entrance and landing of the courthouse, a WPA Moderne style building.

This is a model project illustrating how disabled access can be accommodated without destroying historic features. Raising the interior lobby and extending the floor plane to the exterior avoided the need for a wheelchair lift and allowed the ramp alone to accomplish the change in level from the exterior sidewalk to the main interior floor level.

The ramp, with a gentle 1:19 slope, is used as the primary means for all persons to enter the building. A new granite veneer wall in the same sierra white granite as the existing wall was placed where the former stair entrance was located.

This new entrance to a courthouse addresses a common problem with historic structures. The old stairs barred entrance to an important civic structure in this community. The stairs themselves may have well have been a wall, barring citizens with disabilities from entering. The new ramp allows anyone, of any abilities, to enter the building together.

This solution is very creative in addressing the entrance by essentially eliminating the stairs and bringing the inside out onto a new platform suspended over the old stairs while maintaining the historic fabric of the structure. In most instances, the client would utilize a lift to meet accessibility requirements. In this case, the architect and the client worked together to protect the historic fabric of the building while ensuring equitable access to an important public building. This is a graceful solution, meeting all requirements.



CHAPTER FIVE: ACCESS LANDSCAPE (Unbuilt)

Our next project is courtesy of Jeanine Centuori of UrbanRock Design, Woodbury University and Tierra del Sol. It’s the Access Landscape. The client was Tierra del Sol and it is located in Shadow Hills, California.

(Access Landscape, Shadow Hills, CA. Client: Tierra del Sol. Architect: Jeanine Centuori, UrbanRock Design, Emmanuel Ramirez Muro,

Design team Anabel Garcia, design team. Illustration Credits: Jeanine Centuori)

Access Landscape is collaboration between the Architecture + Civic Engagement Center at Woodbury University and Tierra del Sol, a local nonprofit educational facility for adults with physical and mental disabilities. The project highlights Universal Design strategies through the expansion and renovation planning of the seven-acre campus site.

This project is an urban design campus master plan that explores the full integration of Universal Design into a facility that is dedicated to serving peoples with mental and developmental disabilities.

The following are its guiding principles:

Existing buildings are preserved and altered with surgical retrofits, modest additions, and new mask-like facades.

No mature trees are removed. The architecture is planned around them.

The community is sustained and nourished with the integration of able-bodied and disabled peoples.



The design intent of Access Landscape is to identify and celebrate Universal Design principles at three scales: large-scale site drawings track the circulation of pedestrians, wheelchair users, and automobiles; seven medium-scaled indoor-outdoor spaces with integrated circulation are proposed; and seven small-scaled amenities are grafted onto an existing circuitry of handrails and guardrails. These systemic and individual elements create a vision for Universal Design principles that promote the integration of ramps with stairs; accessible surfaces and spaces throughout; and experiences that encourage mingling of peoples of all abilities. A variety of mobility devices and body sizes are used to determine unique parametric designs informing a collection of tailored amenities.

This project is the outgrowth of a very comprehensive and focused set of studies. I encourage you to download the PDF and take a careful look at the great thinking that went into this project. Let’s look at a few aspects of the solution.

The use of existing buildings is maximized. A series of interventions and new spaces articulate a set of seven strategies for universal specificity. There is a careful analysis of new circulation at a medium scale.

Let’s look at the seven strategies:

An area adjacent to the main classroom entry is thickened to create a waiting area.

The parking lot is surfaced to be programmed for car parking, van parking and audience seating.

A flat area beneath a canopy of trees is maximized to accommodate a pavilion.

A courtyard space is filled with a surface that connects three different levels.

A double-loaded interior corridor is replaced with an outdoor porch that extends the space of classrooms.

A switchback ramp system doubles as an exercise path at a steep hillside location.

A ramp spirals around a tree to provide a quiet, meditative space with a view of the landscape.

The entrance of the main classroom building is thickened to create a multi-terraced zone for waiting areas adjacent to drop-off. The experience of walking into the building is slowed and amplified with social interactions. Areas are bound by handrail charms to create a variety of amenities for those who are waiting.

A large opening is created in the existing building. The interior space then serves as stage, with the parking lot functioning for the audience seating. Chairs are temporarily placed on blue squares. The parking lot is layered with three functions occurring at different times: audience seating, the blue squares; parking for vans, the green rectangles; and parking for cars, orange striping.



The flat area beneath the canopy of trees is captured for a pavilion that functions as an art and ceramics classroom. The pavilion is connected to the existing building with an overhead gateway mask that announces entry to motorists. The pavilion lightly sits below the trees and tightly fits into the landscape. This level area makes for easily accessible site. Colored walkways connect the main classroom.

This unusable space, due to the massive tree roots, is transformed with raised deck surfaces. The existing courtyard space is filled with multiple-level space that creates a set of usable areas. A diagonal ramp is integrated with the spaces that also connect to the adjacent building entrances. The space is visually connected while providing several intimate social gathering areas.

The interior corridor is removed and replaced with an outdoor linear space that doubles as a public porch. A level porch area is placed alongside a row of classrooms. This enables students to easily walk outside to an annexed classroom area. A “stramp” –stair and ramp system – creates an entry on the corner to the wraparound porch.



A switchback ramp, located in steep terrain, doubles as an exercise path. The ramp connects to a green roof above the health and fitness classroom. This ramp has exercise equipment along the railings and landings. The equipment accommodates users of differing physical abilities. A ramp spirals around a tree leading to a quiet, meditative space with a few of the surrounding landscape. This gentle ramp has landings that serve as resting spots with designated views of pieces of nature.

Specific postures and dimensions of a range of able-bodied and disabled persons are charted. These stances and poses form the basis for an interactive series of handrail charms. A series of handrail attachments, or charms, are provided for specific functions. Designed as circuitry, they create a comprehensive network throughout the campus. They are designed to provide physical, emotional, and psychological support.



The “HOLD IT” prototype is tested as a full-scale element. Artworks are displayed along the lengths of ramp handrails, creating a temporary exhibition. There is a wide range of optimal view angles from wheelchair and standing heights. The full-scale prototype is tested for ease of viewing and locations.



“LEAN TO” is a guardrail that invites people of all sizes, shapes, and abilities to lean into a spot along the bar for a short while. There are eight variations in curvature and indentations for leaning, sitting, or resting. It is a magnet for people to come together for a while. It is both universally accessible and specific to individuals.



FEEDBACK

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aeck a303 universal design is good design (part one)€¦ · disability access (ccda. as an...

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