Bathroom Design

This project marks the point where I have fallen in love with my major! I had so much fun designing this bathroom! This is my grandparent's bathroom and I had to make it accessible to wheelchairs. The first thing I decided to do was separate the toilet from the shower. Two years ago, I visited my grandmother in France and my mom and I stayed at her apartment. In it the toilet and shower were separate, with a room for the shower and a sink and the toilet by itself in a small room. I found myself staring at the toilet and wondered how I would wash my hands; thus, I added a sink in the room with the toilet. Initially my inspiration came from European bathrooms and how warm and comfortable they can appear while being clean and from that I pulled out a neutral-brown palette; but it seemed too boring so I added a blue green (glass tiles for storage shelves). I had decided to bump in two of my walls to make the storage shelves because of safety concerns; when shelves stick straight out, they usually end up injuring the person in the room being they usually bump into them, so I decided to cut out a space for the shelves. They would be covered in blue-green glass tiles and have glass shelves, but there would be 24 inches of clear space underneath the last shelf to avoid injury. The shelves would only be 6 inches deep. Next I wanted a curved wall in the bathroom, this was so that it would aid the 5 foot wide turning circle for a wheelchair as well as add to the clear space in front of the toilet on the other side of the wall. I added grab bars around the toilet and in the shower for safety reasons. The shower would have a beige opaque glass door for added privacy and a soffit built to lower the ceiling for a more sheltered feeling yet there would be room between the soffit and glass door for ventilation. The fixtures in the bathroom would all be a traditional white ceramic and the toilet would be commercial with only the bowl sticking out of the wall for easier access for people in wheelchairs. I absolutely loved synthesizing accessibility/functionality with aesthetics. It really is rewarding after you finish your design and think that anyone could live there. This particular floor plan is my favorite I've designed and I really think I could build it! It's just so efficient. The one thing I'm not sure about is the area where the doors open; both of the doors open into the living room and the bedroom is right next to the room with the toilet, with no door opening into it. However, overall, I am satisfied with the design and hope that I can advance my designs in my final project!

Wheelchair Assessment

For an assignment in my class, my partner and I would travel around a part of the campus in a wheelchair and experience what it was like for people in wheelchairs. First of all I would like to say that while this assignment was a good experience and really allowed me to view the world from a paraplegic point of view, I feel bad for making people think I was really in a wheelchair. Everyone was so nice to me and I felt like I was lying. I did have fun though using my arms to wander around, especially in the library; I felt like a kid again. Secondly, it is so hard to roll around campus; there are many stairs and hills that a person in a wheelchair would have too much of a burden trying to get up a hill. A lot of people I see though that are in wheelchairs on campus have an electric wheelchair, which is better but scary to maneuver around the hills. It is difficult also to roll on carpet, there is a lot of friction. Bathrooms were also difficult to get into because of how heavy the doors were and also how little space I could maneuver in. When I did get to a spot where I could park my chair onto the side of the toilet, Ariel told me to get on the seat of the toilet but it seemed impossible! You really have to have strong arms to pull yourself around! Washington State University is not meant for people with physical limitations, it is more of an endurance exercise to get to class! I feel like I learned a lot on this assignment and I also strive to make places more accessible. My grandfather was in a wheelchair at one point and I never understood how demanding it is. I really hope to make people’s lives better and hope that I can weave this universal design and accessibility factor within all the designs I will be working on. I really understand now how important that is and how much easier it will make everyone’s lives.