Incorporating Universal Design Elements Into a Bathroom
This Kohler video focuses on the universal design elements in this bathroom designed by Cynthia Leibrock:
The concept was to initially help consumers to get more familiar with universal design and accept it more easily. The number one priority was to design an aesthetically pleasing bathroom that consumers would really want to have in their homes rather than a bathroom that advertises age and disability.
Features include the following:
- Adjustable counters that can be lowered or elevated; one designed to be lowered for children and the other to be raised for tall adults
- Bathtub with back seat and cushion, handheld shower and grab bars around the perimeter, allowing a person to transfer from a shower wheelchair to the seat
- Standard height water closet with an adjacent handheld faucet that allows a shower wheel chair to slide over it
- Lever controls that are easily operable with one hand
- Vessel sinks
- Handrails across the front of the counter for safety as well as for hanging towels
Standard products were used instead of products for the disabled to demonstrate that standard products can be used to create an accessible bathroom.
