Flexibility is the key to successful universal kitchen design. At least one counter in the kitchen should be adjustable so that it can be occasionally changed to meet the needs of visitors and future residents. Removable cabinets will also make the home easier to sell by appealing to a larger market, including people who use mobility aids and people who need to sit down to cook or wash the dishes. For everyday use by children or adults of shorter stature, tall adults, wheelchair users and those with lower back pain, a variety of fixed work surface heights should be planned.
Work space should be planned between the sink, range, and refrigerator. Because it requires less strength to slide pans between the sink and stove, it is helpful if the sink and range are on the same level and connected by a continuous counter. Supplemental work surfaces should also be offered at a variety of heights including multiple-height tables, pull-out breadboards, islands, and pull-out carts.
Another universal concept is the alternate kitchen plan. With this option, the existing kitchen counters remain at a height for standing users, while a second kitchen is temporarily installed for seated users as needed. A breakfast nook, dining room, utility room, or guest suite could have hot and cold water lines and a drain concealed during construction, so that the alternate kitchen can be added at a later date with minimal expense.
The alternate kitchen concept is also useful to anyone with a temporary injury or to a house guest in a wheelchair. If elderly parents need family assistance, for example, a temporary kitchen could be installed for use from a wheelchair with minimal expense using a portable refrigerator, a two-burner hot plate, and a small oven or microwave.
Remodeling a kitchen for wheelchair use is costly now and may be costly again in the future when the home is resold or rented to a limited market of people in wheelchairs. Rather than limiting the market, the alternate kitchen will expand the market and increase the resale value of the home.
Excerpted from Beautiful Universal Design: A Visual Guide, Cynthia Leibrock and James Evan Terry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999; Used With Permission. © Cynthia Leibrock and James Evan Terry.
