Accessible Design

Designing and building accessible homes is the way of the future. Due to Australia’s ageing population, the number of families with small children and the number of people with temporary and permanent disability.

Incorporating accessible design at the planning and design stage can save thousands in retrofitting down the track.

The State Government has partnered with the WA building industry to develop the Liveable Homes initiative to provide the tools and resources required to build accessible homes without compromising on style.

Modern interior design already lends itself to accessibility with open-plan living, spacious kitchens, wide entry doors and slung bathroom basins.

Incorporating accessible design features in new homes, such as wider doorways, level entrances and reinforced bathroom walls, make homes more adaptable and give people greater independence as the years go by.

A range of support materials is available at www.liveablehomes.net.au to help builders, designers, architects and home-owners incorporate accessible (or universal) design into their homes.

Fact sheets provide detailed technical specifications and perspectives for each Liveable Homes guideline, and CAD and jpeg images are free to download and use.

Examples of house plans for a range of block sizes and shapes—using all essential and some desirable Liveable Homes criteria—have been developed by WA builders and are available as PDFs and in CAD format.

A photo gallery highlights houses built using Liveable Homes guidelines and checklists are on hand to provide a quick overview of essential and desirable criteria.