Your Home, Your (Accessible) Castle
Ernesto Garcia Interior Design, LLC of Phoenix is an award-winning firm. Recently it added another accolade: the ASID AZ North Chapter’s award in the Universal Design category.
The term Universal Design refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments accessible to everyone – people with or without disabilities as well as the aging population.
Garcia finds the Universal Design award especially satisfying. Experience with clients whose physical limitations have required accommodations be made in their homes has made him acutely aware of how thoughtful design can improve quality of life.
“Our need for beauty and comfort should never be underestimated,” says Ernesto Garcia. “Among the many other things that we are, we ‘are’ our homes. Self and environment mutually affect each other; they are reflections of each other.”
One of his clients is a young man who has been a paraplegic since childhood. “I want you to design a beautiful home for me,” the young man said, “one where every corner is reminiscent of my trips to Europe.”
At their first meeting, Garcia realized the physical challenges the young man experienced every day of his life. Consequently, he had spent long hours in the company of his books, reading about cathedrals, museums and castles. When his dream of traveling to Europe came true, his eyes captured every detail – each gargoyle, every column and every canvas. He could describe each perfectly.
At that first meeting, he shared photographs and mementos with Garcia. “It all made sense to me,” Garcia says. As the young man weaved his memories, Garcia sketched as quickly as he could. Toward the end of the consultation, the young man said, “Ernesto, I want you to design a home that reflects the possibilities of my life and not its limitations.”
“The design process and execution required a confluence of Universal Design with the client’s penchant for European interiors and desire for a rich social and family life,” says Garcia.
Large formal and informal entertainment areas were designed to accommodate gatherings and celebrations. Assistive technology, such as the wheelchair’s minimal turning radius, made it feasible to create virtually conventional furniture layouts where the client can easily join group seating or dining with loved ones. Additionally, special attention was paid to designing a home with ambiance and details that personalized the spaces to the client’s individuality, ethnic identity, independence and capacity to live a normal life.
Most of the accommodations were related to providing good circulation for a state-of-the-art wheelchair, accessibility to counter tops and horizontal surfaces for eating or working and safe transition to bathroom and hygiene fixtures.
“My motto has become ‘A world in which everyone can access everything everywhere.’ “ Garcia says.
Photos from Garcia's award-winning Universal Design Home
In this great room, center of family life, seating area, breakfast nook and kitchen are integrated by a harmonious selection of furnishings. A lively palette interweaves throughout the spaces reinforcing their unity.
A large leather sofa and various chairs provide plenty seating for family gatherings and TV watching. Vast circulation space and generous access to furniture arrangements is everywhere, allowing the client freedom to join any activity from any place in the room.
In the breakfast nook, above left, any chair can be moved to fit the client’s narrow wheelchair. This is yet another option that emphasizes the normalcy of the client’s everyday life. A Francophile who loves to entertain in style, the client wanted a dining room, above right, with a luxurious feel. “For my dinners, I replace the gilded throne with my high-tech one,” the client says jokingly.
A customized desk in the client’s office accommodates all specific working needs. Off to the side, there’s a chess-board table; a game is always in progress.
In the bedroom, a personalized headboard bears the client’s initials “V.M.” The bedding, bench and bombe chest all possess referents of French style. Designed to allow minimal transfer effort from wheelchair to mattress, the customized platform bed is upholstered in a material with the highest abrasion rating.
At client’s request the appearance of all assistive functions was reduced to a minimum. Here, the floor tile is carried onto the shower walls to minimize visible distinctions.
Additional Universal Design by Ernesto Garcia
New materials, technologies and good design have developed amazingly efficient, light and ergonomically smart wheelchairs. This has made possible furniture layouts that are not significantly different from that of a home without ADA requirements. An opening or a light ottoman at the end of a seating arrangement makes it possible for a person in a wheelchair to join a living room conversation or a sit down dinner without any inconvenience.
"Walk-in-tub" and ADA vanity are in proximity to facilitate sequential activities during personal hygiene. Circular showers offer numerous advantages: By allowing complete 360 degrees turns for wheelchair, the bather can be showered all over and maintain total control and independence during. Perimeter grab bars give additional safety. Mosaic and glass block provide decorative features in addition to rendering a safe non-skid surface, abundant light and privacy. Tight loop non-skid washable carpet serves all the necessary functions, offering safety and cleanliness.
At top, a kitchen with a clean and straightforward layout is indispensable for wheelchair circulation: wide corridors in between island and perimeter cabinets, appropriate under-counter clearance at preparation areas and pull-out drawers and trays for easy access to pots, pans and utensils. Eliminate all unnecessary furnishing that might interfere with wheelchair movement.
