RIBA launches new guidance for inclusive design

Date:

04 March 2009

Press office contact:

Mina Vadon
T: +44 (0)207 307 3761
E: mina.vadon@riba.org

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched a new educational film for architects, designers and clients which explores innovative inclusive design.

Titled Inclusive Design: creating a user's world, the video focues on three diverse but well-known venues as case studies, The Roundhouse in London, The Eden Project in Cornwall and The Willows School in Wolverhampton, the video demonstrates in detail how inclusive design can be incorporated seamlessly into a variety of buildings, enabling them to be accessible to all.

The case studies consider issues including:

How does a unique Grade II Listed Arts Venue sensitively incorporate accessible design?
How can a visually attractive venue such as Eden become an enjoyable place for those who are visually impaired?
How can a school building create a hospitable environment suitable for special needs teaching and learning?

The role and relationship of the architects, the client, the user advisors, access consultants, and other members of the design team are all examined in the film.

RIBA President Sunand Prasad said:

"The RIBA is here to make the best architecture flourish, because great architecture improves our lives for everyone, irrespective of who they are. Accessibility and the creation of accessible environments is absolutely central to good design and architecture; it is not something that is separate or added on. For too long, accessibility was all about ramps and handrails, but it is much more than that. It is actually about providing environments that are fit for people with a range of abilities, and it is vital that we listen to the needs of different people."

The film is available to view online at: www.youtube.com/user/ribavideo|

To request a copy of the film, contact Zoë Smith on inclusivedesign@inst.riba.org |

Notes to editors

For further information or images contact Mina Vadon in the RIBA Press Office mina.vadon@inst.riba.org or 020 7307 3761.
2009 marks the 175^th Anniversary of the RIBA. To celebrate this milestone the Institute has planned a programme of special events which look back with pride on some of the most significant achievements of the past while also looking forward to the years ahead. We aim to use our position as the home of architecture in the UK to engage an even wider audience in the vitally important architectural issues which have such a large influence on the way we live and work both now and in the future. Our programme for the year includes major loans to the Palladio 500 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and our collaboration with the Barbican centre to bring the highly-acclaimed exhibition; Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture to London. We are also running a national schools competition in collaboration with Construction Skills to design a new parliament building which coincides with the 175th anniversary of the current Barry/Pugin Palace of Westminster. Our major annual events such as the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Royal Gold Medal and Annual Lecture will also be given special prominence during the year. In raising our profile for our anniversary year we hope to demonstrate better the breadth of our activities and convey our passion for good design and designers, in the built environment. For further information go to www.architecture.com/175