Report of the CIB Expert Seminar
on Building Non-Handicapping Environments
Harare, Zimbabwe, January 16-18, 1992
Introducing access legislation for
architects and planners in Mauritius
Avinash Bhandari, Ministry of Works, Mauritius
The primary objective is to drive the awareness of architects, planners,
developers and contractors towards introducing and implementing the legislation
for the elderly and disabled in Mauritius. Shelter for the elderly must
relate to human values and needs of old age. In 1991, 2 out of every 25
Mauritians were over 60 years old (nearly 8 per cent of the population).
With the changing social habits of Mauritians, the need for housing for
the growing segment of the population is imminent. As people get older they
undergo physical changes which weaken their sensory abilities. Some have
difficulty in climbing stairs or slopes, others need walking sticks and
a few may need to use wheelchairs. Vision becomes less acute, arthritis
or rheumatism makes it difficult to turn door knobs, handles or taps. These
difficulties ought to be minimized or completely overcome in the design
of buildings. The need for physical security, affordable support services,
and sympathetic management would become a major consideration in the large
and growing population of the elderly Mauritians. The guidelines are intended
to help planners and architects to design features in new constructions
as modifications to existing structures are far more expensive.
With retirement planning in Mauritius, elderly people are today better off
financially for their later years than before. Nevertheless, there are certain
natural changes that come with age. A barrier-free design, encouraging independence
and self-help can compensate these physiological changes.
Design process
Careful planning and good designing are the primary steps which include
function, aesthetics and utility. All three components must be carried out
in buildings to meet the full range of support that may be required in old
age. In function, the needs of the elderly are considered to arrive at the
performance criteria for a building, which is vital for the architect/planner.
Access and circulation
Facilities within buildings including emergency exits should be accessible
for persons with disabilities and elderly people. Resting space in between
floor climbing should be provided. Corridors should be wide and have slip
resistant floor coverings and high lighting without glare. Round-section
handrails should be provided on both sides and allow for a wheelchair (a
minimum distance between 86 - 96 cm). The height of the handrails is to
be 90 cm with a good grip to support the weight of an average adult. The
ends of the handrails should turn into walls to indicate they are ending.
Finish for the corridor walls on both sides is to take care of the bumper
effects from wheelchairs, grocery baskets, etc. Carpet, tiles or plastic
are recommended as finish. An emergency system of battery lighting should
be provided throughout buildings. Entrances and doors should be under cover
and easily accessible for wheelchairs. Doors should be easy to open, i.e.
automatic sliding or conventional doors with low effort door knobs. Fire
doors should operate by a thermal/smoke alarm system. A shelf beside doors
helps old people to put down packages while opening doors.
Elevators are essential, even if not binding by law, for all buildings higher
than two storeys. This would encourage mobility for those requiring canes,
wheelchairs or crutches. The elevator design should allow enough time for
people to leave and get into the elevator. Elevators should adjust to floor
levels at every stop and handrails should be provided on three sides of
the elevator. Doors should open and close slowly. An alarm system or intercom
should connect the elevator cab to a bell located in the manager's office
or to an emergency unit, i.e. police station, fire services, etc.
Stairs should not have more than ten steps at a stretch. They should not
have projected risings or open steps. Finish should be non-slippery. Handrails
should be on both sides and extending at least 30 cm beyond the top and
bottom of stairways and ramps. Where changes in level occur, ramps should
be introduced. It is economical to have a ramp instead of an elevator in
a two-storey complex. To prevent wheelchair users from rolling off, the
edges on both sides should be elevated by a curb at least 5 cm high or a
guard rail 20 cm above the ramps. A gradient of 1:20 is preferred but must
never increase 1:12 and for not more than 9 meters distance. Ramp landings
should extend beyond door swings by at least 90 cm. Top and bottom landings
should be at least 150 cm long whereas the intermediates ones 170 cm and
spaced at not exceeding 9 meter intervals or where a change of direction
occurs. Handrails should be provided on both sides at a height of 85 cm.
The minimum clearance between handrails for a wheelchair should range between
86 cm to 96 cm. Round section handrails 4 cm in diameter are recommended
to assure a firm grip. Finishes for ramps should be slip-resistant. Exterior
concrete ramps should be brushed; wooden ramps with moisture-proof finish
and interior ramps finished with textural tiles, grooved hardwood or lightly
woven carpeting.
Security, safety and privacy
People need to feel secure but not lonely. Apartments should have a burglar
alarm system as well as an intercom system to screen calls at the entrance.
The alarm system should be centrally controlled in the building or close
enough so that help can arrive fast. The alarm system should be located
strategically, one in the bathroom - a site of many accidents - and one
in the bedroom. These should be no higher than 60 cm from the floor so that
a person lying on floor could easily reach it. The receiving terminal should
have staff round the clock.
Fire safety is a very important aspect in building, especially in high-rises
which should be equipped with common access and egress corridors with staff
assistance. It is recommended to have fire-separated areas of refuge such
as elevator lobbies, separate rooms, sections of corridors or landings,
etc. Individual balconies could serve as refuge from smoke as well as an
escape point to fire brigade ladders. There are often those with sight,
hearing or mobility disabilities who might need special assistance in case
of fire. In such locations, the building's plans, including these areas,
are deposited with the Fire Department at the time of Building Plans approval.
This helps the Fire Department to carry out evacuations in the event of
fire.
Design
Residential apartments, public and commercial buildings, in general, should
be designed in such a way so that these premises may also be used by persons
whose mobility and ability to orientate is restricted due to age, infirmity
or disability. Existing buildings, while being renovated, should take into
consideration the accessibility standards that may be required for the elderly
or disabled. Some services, for example, may be located on the ground floor
for elderly and disabled if it is not reasonably possible to construct elevators
between floors.
In Mauritius there are no building statutes or norms requiring accessibility
for the elderly or disabled persons. The government, since the proclamation
of the year of persons with disabilities in 1981, has taken upon it the
challenge of providing for the needs of people with physical disabilities
in all its public buildings. However, in the absence of firm legislation,
these statutes and norms are still flexible in Mauritius.
Further recommendations for access legislation
At the moment, there is no access legislation in Mauritius. The building
codes and regulations date back to 1929. The Architect Act was passed in
1988 and the practice was legalized very recently. Improvements, therefore,
would be required to existing buildings as well as existing infrastructures
to cater for macro-accessibility. Minor modifications should be brought
to existing public as well as private buildings to cater for disabled people
by introduction of ramps and other facilities. Improvements to infrastructures
such as parks, seaside resorts and beaches, footpaths and sidewalks must
be made in order to encourage the participation of wheelchair users.
The public transportation system should be improved in its bus service.
There is also taxi service as well as a planned railway network. Public
and private buildings must be made accessible by introduction of ramps and
elevators. Easy access should be provided for entering recreational areas
such as game parks, open air theaters, museums and seaside resorts. Football
is the national sport in Mauritius, and every effort should be geared to
make our stadiums accessible to the disabled community. The transport system
should cater for everyone, with easy access into buses, taxis, trains, etc.
Examples are available of elevator installation in public transport systems
in developed countries to cater for disabled people.
Since the declaration in 1981 as the Year of the Disabled by the United
Nations, Mauritius has embarked upon several programs, the political as
well as the social media to improve the environment of the community of
disabled people. The Ministry of Social Security, responsible for the rehabilitation
of the elderly and the disabled people in Mauritius, will soon be constructing
its first barrier-free designed Rest Center on a two-acre sea front site
with all facilities, including indoor and outdoor sports activities. The
current policy, implemented by the Mauritian government, of constructing
50,000 housing units by the turn of the century should take into account
needs and requirements of the disabled community in multi-storey housing
projects with each unit of a barrier-free design.
Guidelines should be formulated for architects, planners and developers
by the introduction of a checklist system in the absence of actual access
legislation for barrier-free design of projects. The requirements of disabled
people should be voiced loudly in all private and government sectors for
the development of the country. Special time should also be allotted to
such media as the press, radio and television, for the promotion of public
awareness of the disabled community in everyday life and activities. Special
forums should be organized by the professional community with full participation
in the development of projects before their implementation. Special scholarships
and stipends should be available exclusively for disabled people to enable
them to study in any field of their choice.
The experience of other countries should be shared in the formation of access
legislation, and their enforcement shared with a common interest and goal.
A regular monitoring exercise should be carried out in all developing countries
with the idea of recording the extent of enforcement of access legislation.
Prizes or rewards should be offered to the countries giving the best example
and performance for a barrier-free environment.
References:
Housing for Elderly People, CMHC, Canada
Questions and comments
Q: I would like to find out whether access is taken as a high priority
at schools of architecture. I think that is the starting point. If you are
trained from your first year at university in architecture, then it will
not be a problem, as you could be out there in the industry implementing
what you learned at school. Is somebody out there teaching architects access
issues?
Sven Thiberg: As professor at
the School of Architecture in Stockholm, travelling around to many different
schools of architecture, I think I know a little about this question and
can give you some answers. I do not think disability questions are high
priority questions at schools of architecture. There are courses or seminars
in all schools. Sometimes, as in our school, it is just for a few days and
some discussion, in other schools there is more. In Torino, Italy there
is a very extensive course in this, others offer a moderate course. But
I do not think this is the problem, the problem is that disability issues
are not integrated in projects. Often teachers feel it is enough just to
have a seminar but there is no follow up, I know this from my own school.
My colleagues often omit the discussion of barrier-free design and often
do not criticize student projects from this point of view. I think it is
a question of integration, as has been mentioned here, to have this in the
back of the brain as a natural inclination of the architect to make the
environment accessible - not something you add on. I know this is a very
big responsibility of architects and schools of architecture. The problem
is to reach into them and to get them to understand their responsibility.
When you were speaking about awards and such, I was thinking about the UIA
Congress, the International Union of Architects, which will have its next
congress in Chicago in 1993. That could be an opportunity to raise these
questions. I will be there as an activist in the peace movement, as chairman
of ArcPeace, which is part of the international peace movement. We will
have seminars on the responsibility of architects to build confidence-building
issues through the world. I think this issue of accessibility is on the
same level. So maybe that could be an idea for us to approach through CIB
and the Architect Union, of which most architects here are members, to try
to get it on the agenda for the International Union of Architects Congress.
Harare
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