Accessible Adaptations and Future-Proofing a Home

Bathrooms are the highest-value change

A level-access shower removes the single biggest obstacle in most homes, and it needs to be planned at floor level: the drainage, the fall in the floor and the tanking all get built in before tiling.

Retrofitting one later usually means lifting the floor, which is why it belongs in the renovation rather than in a future project.

Circulation and thresholds

Door widths, turning space and flush thresholds are dimensional decisions that cost nothing extra at design stage and are expensive afterwards.

• Wider doorways on the ground floor and to the main bathroom
• Level thresholds at external doors, with proper drainage outside
• Clear turning space in bathrooms and at the foot of the stairs
• Noggins built into walls where grab rails may later be needed
• Socket and switch heights set for easy reach throughout

Lighting and contrast

Good, even lighting on stairs, in hallways and over work surfaces is one of the most effective and least noticed accessibility measures. So is contrast: a handrail, threshold or grab rail that differs in tone from its background is far easier to see.

Planning for later without building it now

Not everything has to be installed immediately. Building in the provision — noggins for rails, drainage for a level shower, a cupboard sized to take a future stairlift park, cable runs for a door entry system — leaves the option open at very little cost.

That approach also avoids making the house feel adapted before it needs to be.