AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN THE PROVISION OF BUILDING SERVICES IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN THE PROVISION OF BUILDING SERVICES IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS

Abstract

Universal Design (UD) bridges the gap between housing and disability through the concept of universal design or “design” to create products and environments that are usable by everyone possible without the need for coordination or special design. can be said to design It has so far been neglected in most developing countries, including Nigeria. This study evaluates the implementation of universal design principles in high-rise building service delivery. It also assesses design conformity with Building Services Document M (British Disability Standard) for multi-storey buildings and whether statutory authorities review designs to ensure conformity with universal design principles. It is also intended to A questionnaire was distributed to architects and a checklist structured around the UK disability standards was used as a guide to assess the suitability of these building services for universal design. Additionally, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data generated from the questionnaires. It was established that most designers of building services became familiar with UD through personal study or on-the-job trainings as very few of the building services designers in Abuja learned about UD in the university. Development control agencies have equally added to the non-implementation of UD as most designs are rarely or never checked for conformity to UD. In conclusion, Persons living with temporal or permanent disabilities have been segregated or stigmatized by architectural and building services designs, there is a of shallow knowledge of UD by professionals in the construction industry and most building services provisions have shown low conformity to UD principles.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
There has been an increasing focus on the interface between housing and disability, as
community attitudes and physical barriers in the built environment have prevented people with disabilities from fully participating in society (Zola, 2006). Access to education, employment, housing, recreation, cultural events, and transportation has been denied many people due to designs that do not put the needs of people with disability into consideration (Shapiro, 1994). As the disabled population grows, so does the desire for independence and equality (Shapiro, 1994).
An important and essential aspect is universal design (UD). This includes designing products that are universally responsive and appealing to all users (Bone, 1996).

Seven principles of Universal Design have been identified by Saville-Smith (2006) as:
flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance of error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use, provide a framework for cost-effective policies and strategies to increase physical accessibility for people with disabilities. The aim is to ensure that no one is unable to or finds it very difficult to use a building or its features on account of the way it was designed (Goldsmith, 2000).This seems to have been neglected in Nigeria and advocates of universal design recognize the legal, economic, and social power of a concept that addressed the common needs of people with and without disabilities (Miji, 2009). Access to buildings, spaces and the services therein, can be set at different levels of functionality for disabled people. Welch and Palmers (1995) identify a continuum of accessibility for domestic buildings that ranges from Negotiable, Visitability, Liveable, Adaptable and Universal. Accessibility of services is essential if the goal of fostering functional independence is to be achieved in people with disability. Access to building services is currently very poor in many developing countries (Lang and Upah, 2008; Miji et al., 2009). This shows that society attaches great importance to people with disabilities.