TY - GEN
T1 - Clients´Approach to Universal Design – a Slow Change?
AU - Grangaard, Sidse
PY - 2018/10/30
Y1 - 2018/10/30
N2 - When new buildings do not comply with the accessibility requirements of the Danish Building Regulations, the main reason is often attributed to a lack of knowledge and prioritization. It is the experience of architectural firms that clients decide their own focus on accessibility during the design process, and also whether the level of accessibility should be higher than that stipulated in the Danish Building Regulations. Post-occupancy evaluations point out that when the client is particularly conscious of, or ambitious about, accessibility/Universal Design (UD), the result is a building with an extensive level of accessibility. Thus, the client is a key figure for the project and the level of ambition. Based on interviews with 15 Danish clients, this paper presents a characterisation of their conception of Universal Design. It is significant that, as a concept, UD has not gained currency among the clients that let their ambition level be defined by the Danish Building Regulations. In order to capture differences between clients, a description of the client´s conception of users and designs is based on an analytical framework about the concepts of particular, universal, market and equality. The analysis shows that three conceptions about accessibility/UD can be characterized among the clients: 1) accessibility by design, 2) broad accessibility 3) added value. Above all, the findings show that a development is going on towards UD, although slowly.
AB - When new buildings do not comply with the accessibility requirements of the Danish Building Regulations, the main reason is often attributed to a lack of knowledge and prioritization. It is the experience of architectural firms that clients decide their own focus on accessibility during the design process, and also whether the level of accessibility should be higher than that stipulated in the Danish Building Regulations. Post-occupancy evaluations point out that when the client is particularly conscious of, or ambitious about, accessibility/Universal Design (UD), the result is a building with an extensive level of accessibility. Thus, the client is a key figure for the project and the level of ambition. Based on interviews with 15 Danish clients, this paper presents a characterisation of their conception of Universal Design. It is significant that, as a concept, UD has not gained currency among the clients that let their ambition level be defined by the Danish Building Regulations. In order to capture differences between clients, a description of the client´s conception of users and designs is based on an analytical framework about the concepts of particular, universal, market and equality. The analysis shows that three conceptions about accessibility/UD can be characterized among the clients: 1) accessibility by design, 2) broad accessibility 3) added value. Above all, the findings show that a development is going on towards UD, although slowly.
KW - Accessibility
KW - Client
KW - Danish Building Regulations
KW - Knowledge
KW - Universal Design
UR - https://www.iospress.nl/book/transforming-our-world-through-design-diversity-and-education/
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055615080&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3233/978-1-61499-923-2-706
DO - 10.3233/978-1-61499-923-2-706
M3 - Article in proceeding
SN - 978-1-61499-922-5
T3 - Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
SP - 706
EP - 715
BT - Transforming our World Through Design, Diversity and Education
A2 - Craddock, Gerald
A2 - Doran, Cormac
A2 - McNutt, Larry
A2 - Rice, Dónal
PB - IOS Press
T2 - Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress
Y2 - 30 October 2018 through 2 November 2018
ER -