Builder opens doors for greater accessibility
Daniels Corp. pushes beyond Ontario’s building code to find ‘what truly works’
When Luke Anderson bought his downtown Toronto condo in 2008, he couldn’t get in the front door.
Anderson, 39, has used a wheelchair since a 2002 biking accident left him fully paralyzed in his legs and partially paralyzed in his arms.
“I was all of a sudden introduced to a world that’s not well suited for someone with a mobility issue,” says Anderson, who founded the StopGap Foundation for accessibility advocacy.
Without an automatic door opener at street level or at his unit’s entrance, Anderson’s mobility was tested. Once inside, he couldn’t wheel through the door frame to the bathroom where there was a bathtub he couldn’t easily use. Still, he bought the unit and spent about $15,000 retrofitting his new home. At that time there were few options for someone with mobility needs.
Today, Anderson has partnered with Daniels Corporation as a consultant in the developer’s new Accessibility Designed Program (ADP), launching this month at the Wesley in Mississauga City Centre, DuEast development in Regent Park and all future Daniels projects. Rather than retrofit units, the program offers condo units with accessibility in mind from the design stage, at no extra cost.
Despite a 2015 amendment to Ontario’s building code that mandates 15 per cent of units in a development be “barrier free,” Anderson’s problem is still common for people with mobility needs.
“There is what the code asks for and there is best practice,” Anderson explains. “What we’ve been doing with Daniels is recommending what’s best practice, what truly works.”
Daniels Corp. consulted Anderson for its new initiative and asked him to do a “roll-through” of a unit in a High Park-area building to spot potential problems for those with mobility needs.
He found quite a few: doorways he couldn’t get through, balconies he couldn’t access, showers he couldn’t roll into, counters and cabinets too high to reach.
The consultation was enlightening for Daniels staff, such as Jake Cohen, vice-president of implementation.
“It became clear that ‘barrier-free suites’ still didn’t quite meet the needs of people with accessibility requirements,” Cohen says.
“It was really eye-opening. It’s about respect and dignity. It’s about thinking beyond just a person who is walking to and from their unit to outside their house.”
So Daniels set to work with the help of Quadrangle Architects’ Access Ability Advantage team, a sub-consultancy group focused on accessibility. Now, all future developments will include power-operated entry doors; wider doorways with a minimum 34inch clearance; balconies with swing doors and low-threshold, rollout access; increased clearance between cabinets and islands; at least one bathroom with a roll-in shower, hand-held faucet, grab bars and seat, as well as undersink knee clearance.
For an additional $5,000, buyers can request further design enhancements to the kitchen, including: undersink and cooktop knee clearance; counters at 34 inches (about three feet) high; a side-opening oven; a pullout counter below the stove; a double-door fridge; and a dishwasher drawer.
Accessible features will be added to common areas, including lower concierge desks, increased clearances and power-door operators to all building entrances and common areas.
“I hope that (this project) is a catalyst for change to thinking about how developments should be unravelling,” says Lorene Casiez, an accessibility specialist with Quadrangle Architects.
Casiez notes that as our population ages, the Ontario Building Code’s 15 per cent may quickly become insufficient. “If we do it now, we can begin to address things like sustainability and being able to live in your place at any age and experience the range of abilities you will go through.”
Anderson knows the issue is bigger than him. What will happen, he asks, when aging baby boomer parents can’t have dinner at their kids’ home because it’s a townhome with stairs out front?
“It’s a really big elephant in the room and it’s important to have these conversations and shed light on the need to build visitable spaces,” he says. “Daniels is taking extra steps in normalizing accessibility, making barrier-free space normal and invisible.”