Barrier-Free Design

114 Pages·2010·10.085 MB·English

by  Oliver Heiss

∂ Practice
Barrier-Free
Design
Principles
Planning
Examples
Oliver Heiss
Christine Degenhart
Johann Ebe
Edition Detail

∂ Practice
Barrier-Free Design
Principles
Planning
Examples
Oliver Heiss
Christine Degenhart
Johann Ebe
Birkhäuser
Edition Detail
This book is the result of a collaboration between the authors, the Institut für internationale
Architektur-Dokumentation GmbH & Co. KG and the advice centre for building without
barriers at the Bavaria Chamber of Architects.
The use of the contents of the three German brochures dealing with barrier-free design
and construction – “Barrier-free building 1: Barrier-free dwellings” (1992), “Barrier-free
building 2: Buildings accessible to the public” (1999), and “Barrier-free building 3:
Streets, parks, public circulation/recreation areas and playgrounds” (2001) – is by courtesy
of the pub lishers, the Senior Building Authority in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, the
Bavarian Ministry for Employment & Social Structure, Families’ & Women’s Affairs, and the
Bavaria Chamber of Architects as well as the illustrators Dipl.-Ing. Michaela Haberkorn,
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Florian Burgstaller and Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Ehrmann.
Authors:
Oliver Heiss, Architect, Urban Planner
Christine Degenhart, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Architect
Johann Ebe, Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Architect, Urban Planner
Editor:
Project Management:
Steffi Lenzen, Dipl.-Ing. Architect
Editorial services:
Nicola Kollmann, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Architect
Editorial assistants:
Katinka Johanning, MA; Verena Schmidt;
Melanie Weber, Dipl.-Ing. Architect
Drawings:
Dejanira Bitterer, Dipl.-Ing.; Michael Folkmer, Dipl.-Ing. (FH);
Nicola Kollmann, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Architect
Translators (German/English):
Gerd H. Söffker, Philip Thrift, Hannover
© 2010 Institut für internationale
Architektur-Dokumentation GmbH & Co. KG, Munich
An Edition DETAIL book
ISBN: 978-3-0346-0577-9
Printed on acid-free paper made from cellulose bleached without
the use of chlorine.
This work is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved,
specifically the right of translation, reprinting, citation, re-use of
illustrations and tables, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm
or in other ways, and storage of the material, in whole or in part,
in databases. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright
owner must be obtained.
Typesetting & production:
Simone Soesters
Printed by:
Firmengruppe APPL, aprinta druck, Wemding
1st edition, 2010
This book is also available in a German language edition
(ISBN 978-3-920034-27-0).
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie;
detailed bibliographic data is available on the internet at http://dnb.ddb.de.
Institut für internationale
Architektur-Dokumentation GmbH & Co. KG
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∂ Practice
Barrier-Free Design
Contents
7 Introduction
9 On the history of barrier-free design and construction
10 Historical review
17 Regulatory principles
17 Terminology
17 Standardisation
29 Developments in society
29 Worldwide demographic developments
30 Demographic change in Germany
32 Consequences for developments in urban planning and the built environment
35 Design
35 Limitations and the ensuing demands on the designer
39 Controls and handles
41 Fire protection without barriers
42 Streets, paths, open spaces
50 Stepless accessibility, entrances and doors
52 Vertical access: stairs, ramps, lifts
55 Buildings and workplaces with public access
63 Housing
69 Possible exceptions
75 Typology
75 “The third teacher”
80 Housing
86 Sheltered housing and life as an old person
91 Public spaces
93 Public buildings and places of assembly
95 Obtaining provisions, shopping
96 Offices and workplaces
98 Examples
98 “Résidence de la Rive” nursing home, Onex
101 Institute for blind children, Regensburg
104 “City Lounge”, St. Gallen
107 Appendix
107 Glossary
108 Standards, directives, statutory instruments
109 Bibliography
109 Manufacturers, companies and trade associations
110 Index
112 Picture credits

Introduction
We live in a time in which the human race strates typical solutions. Such an approach Interior, provides advice in more than
is facing one of its greatest ever chal- in a standard is unconventional and leads 1000 cases every year.
lenges. Together, we must tackle the to an increased need for harmonisation.
question of sustainability, a term that is This book is based on the standards valid So this addition to the DETAIL Practice
repeatedly defined by way of three com- at the time of going to press, but does Series, which has been produced with the
ponents: ecology, economy and socio- refer to amended or supplemented rec- assistance of the Advisory Board on Barrier-
cultural factors. It is precisely this third ommendations and specifications in the Free Building, attempts to explain not
component that either hinders or allows new standard where applicable. whether, but rather how a barrier-free built
equal opportunities for all members of our environment can have a lasting effect on
society. This book is divided into three chapters: all our lives. It should help to make build-
The first chapter presents the historical ing without barriers, without changes of
Consequently, “barrier-free” must be under- side of the development of barrier-free level, an integral, matter-of-course com-
stood in an all-embracing sense, for the building as well as the sociological, termi- ponent in design and construction pro-
planning and shaping of our environment nological and legislative principles. The cesses and allow the ideas to be turned
without barriers is not just an issue for benefits of this are that, on the one hand, into reality.
fringe groups or minorities. Instead, it must background information is available for
be seen as a fundamental task relevant to individual design work and, on the other, Dipl.-Ing. Lutz Heese
the whole of society, a task that calls for a the facts and figures presented can pro- President of the Bavaria Chamber of
long-term and sustainable perspective. vide support, especially for liaising with Architects
the other members of the planning team,
The fact that social circumstances can be clients, etc., during the project develop-
deduced from the form of the planned ment and draft design stages.
and built environment is something that is The second chapter, “Planning”, has been
frequently only realised afterwards. In conceived as an aid for the planning
order to support integrative equal oppor- phases. This is where the reader will find
tunities, the progression from “building for definitions of specific requirements in
the disabled” via “building without barriers” descriptive and graphical form.
to “universal design” is unquestionably The examples presented in the third
desirable. The implementation of this, how- chapter, “Typology”, are intended to
ever, turns out to be complicated because inspire the reader and at the same time
it involves an unspecified number of par- serve as references that demonstrate
ticipants, i.e. “everybody”. Therefore, the potential solutions.
more imprecisely the requirements are
defined, the broader the group of inter- The year in which the German edition of
ests and requirements to be integrated, this book was published was special in
the more likely it will be that essential con- two ways: in 2009 the “UN Convention on
tent will be contradictory. Universal plan- the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” came
ning and design thus demand that all par- into force in Germany, and in February
ticipants are very willing to compromise. DIN 18040 “Construction of accessible
buildings – Design principles” was pub-
The draft of the first two parts of the new lished. The Bavaria Chamber of Architects’
DIN 18040 “Construction of accessible Advisory Board on Barrier-Free Building,
buildings – Design principles” responds which was first set up in 1984 through a
to these necessities in such a way that it collaboration with the Bavarian Ministry for
does not operate with absolute figures, Work & Social Affairs, Families & Wom-
dimensions and specifications, but instead en’s Issues plus the Supreme Building
describes the aims and merely demon- Authority in the Bavarian Ministry of the
7

On the history of barrier-free design
and construction
“And what’s your name?” Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)”
“Wait, it’s on the tip of my tongue.” (2001), contains an evaluation of impair-
ments, activity limitations and participa-
That is how it all began. tion restrictions. According to this docu-
I felt as if I had awoken from a long sleep, ment it is not a person’s inabil i ties that are
and yet I was still suspended in a milky grey. critical, but rather their abilities that are
Or else I was not awake, but dreaming. It relevant for their participation in society.
was a strange dream, void of images, [2]
crowded with sounds. As if I could not see, The integration expert Alfred Sander has
but could hear voices that were telling me formulated the following definition that
what I should have been seeing. And they takes account of the environment: “A dis-
were telling me that I could not see any- ability in a person means an impairment
thing yet, only a haziness ... or inability that prevents full integration
A thick, opaque fog which enveloped the into his or her complex human-environment
noises and called up shapeless phantoms. system.” [3]
Finally, I came to a vast chasm and could
see a colossal figure, wrapped in a shroud, Disabilities can be medically diagnosed
its face the immaculate whiteness of snow. and categorised as follows:
My name is Arthur Gordon Pym ... • Motoric impairments (restricted move-
I could hear voices: “Strictly speaking, ment, strength, dexterity and coordina-
Signora, it isn’t a coma ... No, don’t think tion abilities)
about flat encephalograms, for heaven’s • Mental impairments
sake ... There’s reactivity ...” [1] • Sensorial impairments (visual, hearing,
lack of sense of smell or taste)
That is the opening of Umberto Eco’s • Cognitive impairments (speech, learning
moving novel The Mysterious Flame of or mental functions)
Queen Loana. It tells the story of a man
who loses his memory and sets off to find The causes are manifold:
traces of his past life in the daily turmoil of • Hereditary impairments (congenital or
the 20th century. Reading these lines, it prenatal effects)
quickly becomes clear just how fragile and • Impairments suffered shortly before,
how insecure apparently stable everyday during or after birth (diseases, physical
situations really are and how abruptly they injuries or ageing processes) [4]
can change.
It is frequently the case that such impair-
Both the social and the subjective per- ments do not occur singly, but rather as
ception and the associated will to integrate a combination of several disabilities of
have changed. A “disability” is no longer varying seriousness. Those affected must
merely an individual, comparatively severe rely on the help of their direct social environ-
and long-term physical or mental constraint, ment.
but rather, a social and socio-cultural one.
People live in social systems and alliances.
The “International classification of impair- One of the prime achievements of civili-
ments, activities and participation” (ICIDH-2), sation was and is caring for the weaker
published by the World Health Organisa- members of society and the development
tion (WHO) in 1999 and since superseded of corresponding welfare mechanisms.
by the “International Classification of Consequently, the organisation and con-
9
On the history of barrier-free design and construction
Historical review
1 B eguinage, Amsterdam (NL) figuration of an appropriate environment poor or the sick, or as a refuge ensuring
“Fuggerei”, Augsburg (D), 1523, Thomas Krebs,
of benefit to all has for a long time been a humanitarian aid and welfare needs.
endowed by Jacob Fugger the Rich
2 Street declared objective and is not an invention Following a decree by Pope Clement V in
3 Location plan of the modern age. 1312, hospitals no longer necessarily had
4 T here were initially 52 terrace houses in the
Barrier-free design and construction there- to be under the control of the Church.
“Fuggerei”. Every house has one apartment on the
ground floor and one on the upper floor. fore means creating an environment that European society prior to 1300 already
The plan layout comprising a living room, kitchen,
can be used, preferably independently, by had well-equipped universities at which
hallway and two bedrooms is not only typical of
the “Fuggerei” – countless farmhouses in southern as many members of society as possible, theology and philosophy played a great
Germany built between the 15th and 20th centuries irrespective of their age or physical con- role. However, the causes of illnesses
have exactly the same internal layout.
stitution. were not understood, nor were there any
a Kitchen
b Bedroom suitable countermeasures and, unsurpris-
c Living room
Historical review ingly, hygienic conditions were non-existent.
d Bedroom
The following historical survey is intended Epidemics were unavoidable and, as a
to show the beginnings of barrier-free result, the plague started to spread in 1349.
building. Owing to the overall understand-
ing outlined above, these origins cannot The Beghards and Beguines were members
be restricted to just “building for the dis- of lay Christian communities that started
abled”. Social responsibility and its genesis to appear in the 13th century. Irrespective
are much more far-reaching. We must of their wealth or social position, these
assume that welfare facilities essentially communities relinquished their personal
originated for three different reasons: property to live in semi-monastic, autono-
• Care of the sick mous communities. They dedicated them-
• Care of the elderly selves not only to ethical and religious
• Care of those in need until they are able issues, but also practical social work. They
to care for themselves looked after the sick, cared for the aban-
doned, saved the “fallen” and brought up
Human beings have a social conscience children. The autonomous structure of
and even in ancient times, e.g. in Persia, these communities took on an architec-
this led to the poor and the sick being tural form in the shape of the so-called
cared for. In Egypt the temples were also Beguinages, especially in the low coun-
used for treating the infirm. But it is in Sri tries (Fig. 1).
Lanka and India that we find the first inde- A Beguinage consisted of a cluster of
pendent establishments designed for the small houses, a chapel and an assembly
care of the sick. hall, all grouped around a central court-
The parable of the good Samaritan made yard used for growing fruit and vegetables.
caring for the sick an obligation for every Even today, this arrangement with com-
Christian. In the year 817 the Synod of paratively spacious, open urban, common
Aachen declared that every monastery or areas appears to be characterised by
collegiate foundation should include a astonishing neighbourly respect, appro-
“hospital”. Christian-run hostels for pilgrims priateness and timelessness.
and poor houses were known by this name
– its original meaning. By comparison, the towns of the Middle
Ages were characterised by extremely
Middle Ages small forms and dense structures within
In the Middle Ages hospitium was the name the existing fortifications. Consequently,
given to a charitable hostel, run by a church within these towns and in monasteries too,
1 or monastery, for pilgrims, the needy, the planned open spaces were created for
10