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Mikiten Architecture

Toeing the Line

9/17/2018

1 Comment

 
It happened again. I recently got an email in which the sender wrote “tow the line”. Then, minutes later, someone asked me why the code has maximum toe clearance dimensions. Let’s clear up both toe problems once and for all.
First and more importantly (bad grammar is so irksome, isn’t it?), it’s “toe the line”. Don’t confuse it with nautical tow lines…it’s about feet. The phrase originated with soldiers lining up in the military or runners in track and field events, where officials would call out “Toe the line!” to get the runners ready. Either way, it’s the digits of the feet, lined up in a row, like this:

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Although I’m glad to talk about this little phraseological pet peeve of mine, not many people ask me about it, but many DO ask me about the other toe line: The area under a sink or other element that provides space for a wheelchair rider’s toes and foot rests. Here’s the toe clearance diagram from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California Building Code (CBC):

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And what confuses many people about it is that the toe clearance is 6” max. People ask “Why not give more space for people’s toes?” That’s fine, I say. Toes deserve all the space we can give them. But despite Figure 11B-306.2 (above) looking like a counter or implying a lavatory, the code is referring here to maneuvering space; it’s telling you the depth of toe-level space you can include in the 60-inch “Circular Space” as defined in 11B-304.3.1. (By the way, this is what most people just call turning space…or very inaccurately call “the 60 inch turning radius”. Another pet peeve of mine…that would be a 120 inch diameter!)

Here’s a diagram that’s more helpful for thinking about the turning space. Imagine this pile of forms sliding in and out of a restroom, kitchen, work areas, etc. That’s where the 9 inch high, 6" maximum  depth toe space (and the corresponding 27” maximum knee space height) should be applied.

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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.
Here’s the CBC figure showing the lavatory toe space requirement - figure (c):
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The requirement is for 29 inches clear at the front of the lavatory. Since the maximum top-of-lavatory dimension is 34 inches, this results in a sink that’s at most five inches high at the front. This is a very difficult requirement to meet with a wall-hung sink; probably 95% of the ones on the market that say they are “ADA Compliant” have a front edge that’s over five inches tall. So beware those little wheelchair symbols on cut sheets! They often don’t work in the Golden State!


Duravit, Wet Style, and Barclay have California-complying sinks, and with great contemporary designs to boot (including some by Philippe Starck), and many have drains in the very rear, which is a plus for added knee space:
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It’s temping to just do a countertop with a shallow bowl in it to meet the depth requirement. Resist this in high-use public restrooms, because the countertop inevitably winds up splashed and perennially wet. Not only does this look messy, but it’s a nightmare for the sleeves of people using wheelchairs, shorter people, and kids. But if you must, set your countertop below 34 inches so that if the undermount sinks you specified wind up being value engineered out during construction and replaced with self-rimming ones, you don’t wind up out of compliance…the required 34” maximum measurement is to the sink rim, NOT the countertop.

As I always say, we should take any opportunity to provide MORE space than the code minimums require. If you can provide more knee space, then someone in an electric wheelchair with a joystick out front, or someone in a high-seated scooter who pulls up sideways and needs more knee space when they turn their seat 90 degrees is going to thank you. Who knows - that might just be you or a family member one day. So let’s make better, more flexible architecture…and not just toe the line.
1 Comment

A Social History of Accessibility

2/6/2017

4 Comments

 
Ever wonder how accessibility requirements and the ADA came into being? It was a long and sometimes terrifying journey, inspired Civil Rights struggles, that led to the ADA’s vision of full inclusion for all people.

The 14th Amendment and  Eugenics
A long and ugly history preceded any legal protection for people with disabilities (see the timeline  I put together at the end of the article). The 14th Amendment gave citizenship and “Equal Protection” to all people born in the US…way back in 1868! Yet in the 1920’s, the Eugenics movement spread around the globe. Francis Galton analyzed the intelligence of England’s upper classes and determined that “it would be quite practicable to produce a highly-gifted race of men by judicious marriages during several consecutive generations”. 

That might sound innocent, but the Eugenics Record Office in Long Island collected data on “undesirable” physical and intellectual traits, and by 1931, 29 states had sterilization laws that allowed doctors to “eliminate negative traits.” This resulted in the forced sterilization of 64,000 US citizens. It started with people with disabilities, expanding to people committing “crimes” like promiscuity or poverty. No Equal Protection there!
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The chilling poster here is just one example of the movement’s propaganda. Germany actually worked with California in the 30’s to learn about formalizing Nazi social cleansing programs.

The Civil Rights Act and Class Status
It was 86 years after the 14th Amendment that Brown vs. the Board of Education finally abolished racial segregation in schools, and another ten before the Civil Rights Act gave deeper protections.
One legal legacy from the Civil Rights Act is “Class Status”. This defines a group and enables the government to establish protections for the members. These applied to race, color, religion, national origin, sex…but nothing to people with disabilities. 

It wasn’t until 1973, 105 years after the 14th Amendment, that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act required equal treatment of people with disabilities…but only for federally-funded programs. So for two decades after the Civil Rights Act, people with disabilities could still be legally marginalized. It wasn’t until 1988 that the Fair Housing Amendments Act established people with disabilities as a Protected Class, and laid the foundation for the ADA.

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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.

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Unfortunately, Separate But Equal sowed an idea that still has roots today: That a back-door ramp or a separate accessible restroom is fine; that people should be thankful to get into buildings at all, and not complain about how.

​We all know that civil rights laws don’t necessarily mean real-world equality. Similarly, Section 504 and the ADA didn’t automatically create full accessibility for people with disabilities; equal employment, equal public transportation, and equal facilities in buildings are still lacking. To fix that, we need to first accept the simple reality that everyone’s needs are different, and then agree that it’s not good enough to design some things that are accessible and some that are not. Instead, let’s strive for Universal Design as the ideal, and together we’ll create an environment that is elegantly human and fundamentally just.

4 Comments

Counter Measures

2/17/2016

2 Comments

 
​As a wheelchair rider, I often encounter problems at service counters. Sometimes it's a design shortcoming, but often it's a management issue that crops up after final inspection. The CBC defines four related counters: service counters, check out aisles, point-of-sale devices, and dining surfaces. Let’s look at some common problems, and then talk about how architects can prevent them.

Design Issues

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Here's a service counter at an Amtrak station I was at recently. A tiny accessible counter is on the left, but the agent can't see it or reach it, so there’s no place for an actual transaction between a wheelchair riding customer and the agent!
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​Here's what it looked like to use from my point of view.​ Pretty useless.

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Changes of Occupancy

11/18/2015

10 Comments

 
A Note to Architects...

When you’re working out occupancies on existing buildings, keep in mind that any change in occupancy is considered an Alteration (Section 202 Definitions). That means that even if your client is just doing cosmetic work that wouldn’t normally be an Alteration (such as normal maintenance, reroofing, painting, or mechanical and electrical system changes), the change in occupancy alone classifies it as an Alteration.
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    Author

    Erick Mikiten, AIA, LEED-AP

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Mikiten Architecture  |  2415 Fifth Street, Berkeley, CA  94710  |  510-540-7111
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