Accessible Environment Strategy
Urban Design and Environmental Planning
Heritage and Urban Design Team
ACCESSIBLE
ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY
Copyright Sheffield City Council 2001
Sheffield City Council
Accessible Environment Strategy
Exclusion or Inclusion?
“Civilisation has moved on from the times when good sight,
sharp hearing and the ability to run away from danger were
essential to survival. Now we overcome natural obstacles
and instead create man-made ones. In order to benefit fully
from the technical solutions created by our civilisation these
abilities are still essential for we have created systems and
services which exclude people who lack some or all of them.”
Man into space but not the local newsagent’s?
Our perception and outlook on what constitutes disability is important. The concept of what is normal behaviour has been enshrined in
certain areas of legislation and standards for many years. The design of any building rests with the identification of the people who will
be using it and their needs.
Disability is caused by the barriers that the environment and society in general creates. Individuals don’t suffer from the lack of a
ramp, a building does. An impaired person is not disabled until society sets a pattern of behaviour and a template for the
design of its buildings that excludes them. This is the social model of disability and the principle on which our environment should be
judged.
Sheffield City Council
Accessible Environment Strategy
Inclusive Design Principles
Inclusive design, universal design or design for all, the term
varies but the aim is the same
“(It’s) the design of different products and environments to be
usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without
the need for adaptation or specialised design.
The intent of the universal design concept is to simplify life
for everyone by making products, communications and the
built environment more useable, by more people, at little, or
no extra cost. The universal design concept targets all people
of all ages, sizes and abilities.”
Four practical design principles to help implement this are:

The form, mass and layout of any site or building must
facilitate ease of access and not create disabling barriers
in the interests of aesthetics, for the management of a
building or an activity.

Recognise the limitations in industry standard sizes eg
doors, or lift sizes. Specifications must meet users needs.

The choice of materials must first be functional, safe and
reflect users needs, not be driven purely by aesthetics.

Finishes and colours should be used to give clarity to
designs and to provide wayfinding.
Functional glazing manifestation combined with corporate design
Sheffield City Council
Accessible Environment Strategy
Design Standards: Guidance Notes 1
Proper access design guidance should be followed.
The focus should not solely be on compliance with the
Building Regulations. They are a set of minimum standards;
not best practice. The Approved Documents provide
guidance on the gradients of a ramp etc to demonstrate how
the principles set out in the Documents could be achieved.
There are wider issues which should be considered, relating
to the use, and character of the users, of the building or site.
Guidance notes should take the principles set out on the
previous page and provide an integrated and inclusive
environment
Sources of information could include
 City Council’s design guidance 1994
 Buildings for All. S Bone, CIRIA 1996
 Building Sight. P Barker et al, RNIB 1995
 Access to Historic Environment. L Foster Donhead
1997
 Designing Lifetime Homes. J Brewerton et al, Joseph
Rowntree Trust 1997
The Millennium Gallery entrance is inclusive: it has a
gentle gradient, no steps and automated doors
Sheffield City Council
Accessible Environment Strategy
l
Summary of Key Features for an Accessible Environment
Access to the site
Always provide car parking for disabled people even where
parking is not provide for the able bodied user.
Signage
All signs must have sans serif text that contrasts with the
background and pictograms. If within reach of a pedestrian
they must also have raised tactile letters and Braille.
A network of pedestrian links to and throughout the site
making use of dropped kerbs and tactile paving
Doors
Attention must be paid to the opening width, force to open,
door furniture and colour contrast with surroundings
Materials
Surfaces
Must be smooth, with paving units having close butted or
narrow joints. Use of loose, granular materials, eg gravel or
setts must be avoided
Buildings and structures
Materials and their use must meet basic functional access
and health and safety requirements. For example large areas
of glazing must make use of clear, bright manifestation
Wayfinding
To provide cues for direction finding based on use of colour
and tactile qualities of materials
Approach
All access points to and into buildings or a site should be
level or ramped, with steps not dominating the focus of key
desire lines.
Means of Escape
Provide an inclusive evacuation procedure that allows for
independent egress by all. Written procedures should state
how disabled people’s needs are to be met.
Lifts and Level Changes
All level changes must be ramped or have a lift. Ramps are
preferred to lifts for movement within a floor. Between floors
lifts should be available measuring at least 1.5m square
internally, with a voice pack and accessible control panel.
Toilets
All toilet facilities must provide both a unisex WC and single
sex toilets that are accessible for ambulant disabled people,
positioned together in one location.
Management of Buildings and Sites
All policies, procedures
and practices must
ensure the needs of
disabled people are
met in full and on an
equitable basis.
Eg access to parking
facilities or building
security.
The London Eye is run so that access is maximised
Sheffield City Council
Accessible Environment Strategy
Implementation
Design Standards 2: Delivery
Access is not simply ramps, wide car parking spaces and toilets.
Its all the details of the design of a public realm area and the
external and interior elements of a building. To be accessible, a
building needs to embody a simple enough concept and to deliver
it across a myriad of detailed components.
Clear outcomes should be included in any project specification
which should set out:


A clear design purpose or objective which expresses how
the needs of disabled people will be met.
Standards which the objective will meet eg exact clear
opening width for a door.
Advice should be sought on the proposals from an Access
consultant using either, the services of the City Council Access
Officer, or an independent consultant, who must be appointed for
the lifetime of the project.
Where relevant, an audit of any existing buildings should be
undertaken and the proposals related to the audit.
Any design team should comprise the Access advisor, as above.
Key principles and users must drive the detail, not legislation
Consultation
Disabled people should be fully consulted through the
Sheffield Access Liaison Group, or a separately
constituted group for the lifetime of the project. Such
consultation should address key points of principle and
the overall development of the project stage by stage.
Sheffield City Council
Accessible Environment Strategy
Contacts
Brian Messider, City Council Access Officer
Voice 0114 273 4197
Fax 0114 273 5002
Typetalk available
Picture credits
Cover Disability Rights Commission
P.1 & 4 Guardian Newspapers
P.2 & 5 Sheffield City Council
P.3
PRS Architects
Urban Design and Conservation Team
Development Services
DEL Directorate
Howden House
Union Street
Sheffield S1 2SH
E-mail: brian.messider@sheffield.gov.uk
Sheffield Access Liaison Group
Can be contacted through the City Council Access Officer.
National Register of Access Consultants
Voice:
Fax:
Minicom:
E-mail:
020 7234 0434
020 7357 8183
020 7357 8182
info@nrac.org.uk
National Register of Access Consultants
70, South Lambeth Road
London SW8 1RL
Sheffield City Council