Universal Design Makes a Midcentury Home Accessible
This home tour is all about beautiful design that also believes the mobility demands of all the loved ones — two of whom are wheelchair users. When architect Carol Sundstrom’s customer, wheelchair user and accessibility adviser Karen Braitmayer, reached an impasse in coming up with ways to expand her Eichler-inspired midcentury home, she hunted Sundstrom’s experience. “Her husband were sentenced to creating another story for more square footage. However, I said, ‘Wait a second. Imagine if you attempt this?’ Until eventually she asked me to spearhead the structural alteration part of the renovations,” states Sundstrom.
Like doctors, architects have specialty areas. “Mine happens to be a business understanding of wood-framed-home modifications,” Sundstrom says. “And my architect-client’s happens to be universal design”
at a Glance
Who lives here: Karen Braitmayer; her husband, David Erskine; and their daughter, Anita
Location: Seattle
Size: 1,830 square feet
Design challenge: Growing more alive spaces in the inside without going beyond the house’s existing footprint. “Adding another story would have destroyed the architectural character of the home and required several elevator trips each day,” notes Sundstrom.
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At first glance you might miss the universal design features of the open kitchen. But look closer and you will see the way the pedestal table allows for optimum knee space and seating configurations.
The Miele dishwasher into the right of the sink allows for one-hand functioning, and its own controls require minimum pressure and “squeeze” to operate. The controls are located between 15 and 48 inches above the ground, and all racks have front access.
Cabinetry: habit, Contour Woodworks; cabinet pulls: Mockett; floor: clear-stained red pine; dropped might lighting: Progress Lighting
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This angle allows you enjoy the various heights of the granite counter and tabletop. “Not many wheelchair users have exactly the exact needs. Karen and her daughter, a wheelchair user, possess distinct arm-reach lengths and distinct chest peaks, so we took their needs into account,” states Sundstrom.
Though some might disagree with all the cooktop positioning and its own lack of undersurface knee space, Sundstrom stands by the positioning. “If we eliminate the drawers and allowed for knee space, we would increase the chances of spilling hot, frequently boiling water on a person’s lap. The side approach to the cooktop just works out better,” she states. A low-profile grill top lets Karen see to as much of her casseroles as her elevation permits.
Sink: Kollmar sheet metal; faucet: Kohler; cooktop: Fisher
Before Photo
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BEFORE: An massive fireplace mass (view edge at right) and the mechanical space behind it took up lots of mostly living space. The builder’s team moved the mechanical space to the outside wall, where it’s double doors into the rear patio for accessibility. They eliminate the fireplace entirely.
“The household had to do this complex dance around each other, even with just two people in the kitchen,” states Sundstrom. “Something had to change”
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AFTER: The team moved the customized cabinetry and built in units back, extending the kitchen and making space for “four wheels, two feet — and even much more when amusing,” Sundstrom says.
The kitchen was transformed to the new center of the house with its growth in wheelchair-turning radius. And the space is much more joyful with all the flood of sunlight coming in from unadorned windows.
“This house is remarkably bright and cheery inside, even in the winter — a rare thing in rainy Seattle,” states Sundstrom. A Nelson saucer pendant and Risom sofa seat match the house’s midcentury modern roots.
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A pullout, built in tabletop is another surface for putting kitchen appliances, baking bowls and prep things on. Wide drawer and cabinet pulls allow easier opening and closing.
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A side-opening oven mounted at just the ideal height makes it much easier to achieve in (and pull out things of) the oven. Cooks can place hot plates and pots on a lowered countertop right across from the oven. See the faucet on the side of the sink and the way the sink was made to be as deep as possible while leaving enough knee space beneath.
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A family room allows the household entertain overnight guests; the oversize chair becomes a sleeper with ease. “It was challenging for them to house guests because the family area was exposed and open; there was not any privacy,” states Sundstrom.
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Broad brings and accessible drawers provide loads of storage for the entire family, and …
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… the area can become a versatile workstation and reading area.
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Curbless adjustments make going into the outside living spaces and bathroom simple.
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“I love the way the countertop is about exactly the same degree in the master bathroom. Karen was the one who arrived and did much of the fine-tuning — she understands best what she and her husband and daughter want in the home,” states Sundstrom. David’s vessel sink functions because of his standing elevation, and Karen’s semirecessed sink functions for her seated elevation.
Sinks: Duravit
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The shower has a curbless entry, marked here by the white shower curtain.
“Anytime that a customer with unique needs can come home to a location that they can utilize with ease without feeling as though they’re at a nursing home — without losing their individuality — if we have achieved that at a job, then we have done our job. I believe we were able to do it with this home,” states Sundstrom.
Toilet: Toto
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Universal design purists may take issue with the detached wooden stool in the shower, but Sundstrom points out that even though Karen uses a wheelchair, she is not entirely wheelchair bound. “The feces, grab bar and control positioning work for their own specifications. She’s brittle bones and can not walk without putting herself at a very fragile situation, but she could pull herself into and out of her wheelchair. She is a powerhouse of a woman,” states Sundstrom.
Drain: Quickdrain