Lack of inclusivity in the design of buildings and spaces is affecting ‘millions of people’ with knock-on impacts for footfall and commerce, say Grosvenor and The Crown Estate
A failure to understand the benefits of investing in inclusive design and how to implement inclusivity within buildings are among the key barriers preventing ‘millions of people’ from fully engaging with public and commercial spaces, the latest research has revealed.
The report Inclusive Spaces and Places: A collaborative approach to inclusive design, by major property owners Grosvenor and The Crown Estate, examines the challenges faced by people with physical and hidden disabilities when accessing and working in buildings and public spaces.
Based on input from organisations including British Land, Lendlease, Transport for London, Cadogan and the City of Westminster, the study also incorporates the views of inclusivity experts and participants in lived-experience workshops.
Failure to fully understand the benefits and value case for investing in inclusive design, by property owners, building custodians, end-tenants and occupiers is having a ‘significant impact on how spaces are used in practice, and experienced by the public’ the report states.
It cites figures from disability awareness group Purple, showing that businesses lose around £2 billion a month by ignoring the needs of disabled people. Other research found that 43% of disabled individuals have abandoned a recent shopping trip due to barriers encountered and 75-80% of customer experiences are deemed to be a failure by disabled people.
Even where organisations are starting to understand the benefits of inclusive design, the study found some still don’t make improvements due to a lack of understanding of how to tackle buildings and spaces. Resolving this issue means ‘consulting design experts, and people with a wide range of lived experiences,’ the report notes, and crucially, consultation ‘needs to move from being an afterthought to being an intrinsic part of early feasibility and concept design’.
Deborah Clark, sustainability director at The Crown Estate, said: ‘In order to truly deliver accessible spaces and places, we must develop a strong understanding of people’s needs. Social, cultural and economic background, alongside physical and hidden disabilities, lead to a range of different experiences with the built environment. As an industry we need to dedicate the time and resources needed to properly understand these needs so that we can improve accessibility across the board’.
The study uncovered a failure among organisations to recognise the importance of considering inclusive design throughout project design and delivery, missing the opportunity to ‘save significant costs related to upgrading and retrofitting builds to meet the demands of changing legislation’.
At present in the UK, there is no legal obligation for planners, designers or occupiers to ensure that buildings and spaces are inclusively designed. However, guidance is available, ranging from new British Standards for Neurodiversity to the recent RIBA inclusive design overlay, which build on the requirements outlined in the 2010 Equality Act.
Wider barriers to factoring in inclusive design in the built environment include difficulties repurposing historic buildings and balancing the need for preservation with the need for inclusive design. For example, buildings with listed status often come with stringent regulations to preserve architectural integrity, posing challenges when it comes to accessibility.
‘Heritage buildings often prove to be a real challenge when considering modern accessibility requirements, largely because these requirements were simply not on the planning agenda at the time,’ said Clark. ‘We have a responsibility to protect the rich history of our built environment, but must also explore ways to make them accessible to all those who interact with them.’
The report goes on to note that the real challenge with historic buildings is ‘shifting the widely held perception’ that heritage preservation and inclusive design are conflicting goals. If they are not accessible to a diverse range of people, they risk becoming unattractive to occupiers and ultimately obsolete.
In a bid to improve how the industry tackles inclusivity, Grosvenor and The Crown Estate, have launched two new open-source tools. The first is an inclusive design brief, developed in collaboration with Motionspot, for use on new developments, including technical guidance and a set of prompts for design teams to embed inclusive design throughout the lifecycle of a project. The second is a template for assembling an inclusive design panel of people with lived experience for use across all new developments within their portfolios.
James Manning, London estate strategy and performance lead at Grosvenor Property UK, said : ‘For new developments we need all involved in design to think beyond just complying with building regulations. Our goal is to aim high, engage those with lived experience, and integrate inclusive design expertise from the project's inception through to its operation.’
A new working group, the Accessible and Inclusive Places Industry Group, has also been founded ‘to drive collaboration and change across the sector’.
One in four of the UK’s 67 million people are living with a disability, and thousands more face temporary mobility challenges.