Maybe the portmanteau “Shelteraging” In Place doesn’t roll off the tongue, but it serves our purpose here to consider how Sheltering in Place can give us a new perspective on Aging In Place, and by extension, Universal Design. 

We’ve all lamented the ways Shelter In Place orders have stifled our freedom. In the uncertainty of Shutdown Week Two, a client mourned the ability to hop in the car to get milk, walk the streets for fresh air, or socialize. 

Her statement struck a chord: These are limitations are routine for people with disabilities and many of our elders. Most of us will experience limitations and increasing isolation as we retire and age. The impediments in these cases are not a virus that we’re unable to battle, but the built environment that we can change.

As a wheelchair-riding architect I can relate. Growing up with a weak bone condition, I spent many 6-week stretches of my childhood in traction with broken bones. Not only did I not go outside, to the store, or to see friends, but I stayed in our living room the whole time. These stay-at-home orders feel peculiarly familiar.


In my homebound stretches, I felt invisible to the world. There was no social media or cell phones, and our landline phone was out of reach on the kitchen wall. Once I healed and got out of traction, I needed help to go almost anywhere - the built environment of the 1960’s and 70’s didn’t exactly say “come and join the rest of us”.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made people invisible to each other in a similar way.  

When we venture into the subdued public realm these days, there’s an eerie sense of emptiness combined with a feeling that behind all these quiet facades there are families and roommates huddled together, waiting, not daring to go outside. Their presence is palpable. 

Yet in “normal” times of bustling street life, there are still many people behind those quiet facades to whom the built environment extends no invitation to join public life. Out of sight, they are too easily out of mind.

Some are the elders of our community who retire, gradually go out less, develop mild and then more severe disabilities, and for whom even going to that favorite neighborhood restaurant becomes too much of a chore. Some are people with disabilities for whom the unpredictability of accessibility in cafes, restrooms, and stores keeps them from adventuring out.  

Lest we think the ADA has fixed the public realm, know that even in California, at the supposed leading edge of accessibility, we have a long way to go. I made birthday lunch plans at a highly recommended restaurant in SF this year. We called ahead to confirm accessibility, especially since my son was also temporarily using a wheelchair after a car accident. We got there and found three steps at the front door!

Circulation is key

​It’s all about circulation. Old houses tend to be compartmentalized; the easiest thing is to remove doors that remain open most of the time. When I remodel an old house I look at space that is eaten by pathways. By opening the dining to the kitchen will make your kitchen more useful and bigger. – De Meza + Architecture Team

Narrow or constrained lot sizes can be a challenge when designing a new home, but can also result in unique, carefully designed and beautiful spaces.  H2D Architecture + Design approaches space constraints with thinking about a design that flows efficiently and graciously between the spaces horizontally and also vertically between the floors.  Open floor plans which combine uses, such as living, dining and kitchen areas, help to reduce the need for extra circulation spaces, as well as utilizing open stairs between floors in the design can help create the feel of a larger space. – H2D Architects

Let there be light
Light is essential when dealing with smaller spaces. A well-lit space can give the impression of largeness without the actual footprint size.  Large glass walls taken from floor to ceiling to adjacent walls can allow for small spaces to open up visually and connect to the outside.  Accordion doors are a favorite product to physically open up the interior space to exterior living.  On restrictive lots, tall garden walls provide privacy and intimacy even in the face of density. – Tomecek Studio Architecture

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The following is how the code describes this in CBC Chapter 11B-306.2.4 (but since there are no accompanying figures, it’s usually overlooked):

“Space extending greater than 6 inches (152 mm) beyond the available knee clearance at 9 inches (229 mm) above the finish floor or ground shall not be considered toe clearance.”

​This says "available" knee clearance. In my opinion, if you don't have an obstruction limiting the knee clearance, you can claim more than 6" of horizontal toe clearance.

Bonus Tip: A lavatory is not a sink…

A related confusion is that the CBC differs from the ADA in sinks. We have these two definitions (Chapter 2) in California:

LAVATORY. A fixed bowl or basin with running water and drainpipe, as in a toilet or bathing facility, for washing or bathing purposes. (As differentiated from the definition of “Sink”.)

SINK. A fixed bowl or basin with running water and drainpipe, as in a kitchen or laundry, for washing dishes, clothing, etc. (As differentiated from the definition of “Lavatory”.)

So whereas kitchen sinks and work counters need to have the clearances shown above, a bathroom lavatory in California needs a thinner front edge, to allow for more ability to get in nice and close. To remember this, picture someone in a wheelchair washing their face in the bathroom - they need to get in closer than when they’re reaching out and washing dishes in a kitchen sink.

Separate Is Not Equal
This photo of people protesting against inaccessible public transportation is one of my favorites. One sign reads “I can’t even get to the back of the bus”. Disability Rights protests proliferated, modeled on the Civil Rights movement, with sit-ins, building occupations, marches, and people chaining themselves to buses, demanding equal treatment.

This highlights the Separate But Equal concept that Oliver Wendell Holmes’s Supreme Court in 1896 said was ‘good enough’. The resulting Jim Crow laws formalized segregation until 1954’s Brown vs. Board of Education desegregated schools. And to think…I attended Holmes High School in Texas without knowing this. Ugh.

Maybe the designer thought just having a check-writing spot was good enough, but that’s not the code’s intent. This was clearly a design problem for the architect to solve.
How about this Clipper Card kiosk at the Powell Street BART, with (amazingly) no low counter at all? And the sloping face makes it even more difficult to interact with the employees behind it.
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It's brand new, and apparently the kiosk designer didn’t know the code. If you, as architect, show a counter or point of sale location on your drawings, note that it must be accessible, so that the fabricator has guidance.
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A more common problem is that the accessible portion of the counter is pushed to the side, or tacked onto the 'real' counter. So employees think it’s for them, and they clutter it up with cutlery, napkins, recycling bins, and more. Some examples:
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The ADA and the California Building Code require that owners and operators ensure “maintenance of accessible features.” But if employees don’t know something’s an accessible feature, how can they maintain its availability?
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I’ve asked many dozens of employees whether they know why the counter is there, and maybe 5% do. I recently found a rare uncluttered low dining counter at a restaurant, but three employees insisted that it was for take-out use only, and that I couldn’t sit there. I prevailed after an unpleasant debate, but the restaurant probably reverted back when I left. It shall remain nameless, but let's just say it was a pizza kitchen in California.

This is important because for Alterations, 11B-202.4 provisions apply. This states that “When alterations or additions are made to existing buildings or facilities, an accessible path of travel to the specific area of alteration or addition shall be provided.” The Division of the State Architect (DSA) has an Advisory that says that “When a building or facility undergoes a change of occupancy, the entire building or facility (or portion thereof) is considered the area of alteration. The entire building or facility (or portion thereof) must be upgraded to comply with current accessibility requirements for new construction.”
 
The priorities of the Path of Travel upgrades are primary entrance, toilet and bathing facilities, drinking fountains, public telephones, and signs. See Section 11B-202.4 for more information, including many listed exceptions.
 
More and more cities require drawings documenting the existing non-conforming conditions, in addition to the new proposed work. This gives them a reference document for future remodels, and allows the plan checker to have all the information needed for negotiating with you which pieces should be upgraded, which might include elements that were in compliance when built, but that don’t meet the current code.
 
So the bottom line is that if a client comes to you just wanting help with a change of occupancy, do your research, talk to the building official about what accessibility upgrades they might reasonably require before your client just gets a Zoning approval for a change of occupancy and starts moving in.