Access Paths, Parking And Arrival
The continuous accessible path of travel from parking to the entry decides whether an accessible dwelling can actually be entered. It is set by site levels, and on a sloping site it is the constraint that shapes the whole project.
What does an accessible dwelling need at its entry?
A continuous accessible path of travel from the parking space to the entry door, within the permitted gradients, with a firm slip-resistant surface, adequate width, level landings where it changes direction, and a level or ramped threshold at the door. The parking space itself needs an adjacent shared area wide enough to deploy a hoist or transfer to a wheelchair.
A dwelling with perfect internal accessibility and a step at the front door is not an accessible dwelling.
The path from where a vehicle stops to where the door opens is as governed as the bathroom, and it depends on ground the building does not control.
The continuous accessible path of travel
The requirement is continuity. One path, from the parking space to the entry, with nothing on it that stops a wheelchair.
That means no step, no gradient steeper than permitted, no surface a castor sinks into, no width restriction, and a landing wherever the path turns or changes slope.
Break it anywhere and the whole path fails, which is why it is assessed as a single element rather than as a series of pieces.
Gradient is the real constraint
A path can be gently graded along its length without being a ramp. Past a certain slope it becomes a ramp, and a ramp brings handrails, kerbs, landings at intervals and a maximum length before a rest.
The consequence is spatial. A ramp overcoming a significant level change is long, and it needs landings along it. On a tight site that length frequently cannot be accommodated, and the answer becomes a change to the building's finished floor level rather than a longer ramp.
Which is why the levels are resolved before the floor level is set, not after. Setting the floor level to suit the structure and then discovering the path cannot reach it is the sequence that produces unbuildable designs, and it is a particular risk on the sites covered in [building on sloping sites](/blog/building-on-sloping-sites).
Crossfall and surface
A path that is flat along its length still has to shed water, which means a crossfall. Too much crossfall and a wheelchair steers itself downhill.
The surface has to be firm, stable and slip resistant when wet. Which rules out loose gravel, bark and anything that moves under a castor, and it puts conditions on paving joints, because a wide joint catches a small front wheel.
Grates and drainage covers on the path need apertures small enough and oriented so a castor cannot drop into them.
The parking space
An accessible parking space is wider than a standard one, and the width is not for the car.
It is for the shared area beside the vehicle where a wheelchair is unloaded, a hoist is deployed, or a transfer happens. Without it the space is a standard bay with a sign on it.
Height clearance matters where a van with a raised roof or a rear hoist is in use, which rules out some carport and undercroft arrangements that look adequate on plan.
And the space has to connect to the path without crossing a traffic route where that can be avoided.
Weather protection
A resident transferring from a vehicle in the rain is transferring slowly.
Cover over the parking space and over the entry is not a luxury item in supported accommodation, and the structure that provides it has to be coordinated with the module installation rather than added afterwards, because a roof over the arrival point often sits exactly where the crane needs to work. That coordination is part of [crane selection and lift planning](/blog/crane-selection-and-lift-planning).
The entry itself
A level or ramped threshold, a landing large enough to operate the door from a wheelchair, lighting that works at night, and a doorbell, intercom or lock within reach range.
The landing is the item most often undersized. Space to stop, turn, operate the door and get through it is more than the width of the door, and it has to be level in both directions.
Why it is a site question first
All of this is decided by ground levels, boundary setbacks, the position of the street and where services enter.
Which means it is resolved during the site assessment, alongside the external works and the stormwater, and it is one of the things that determines whether a site suits an accessible dwelling at all. The broader list is in [site constraints that decide modular viability](/blog/site-constraints-that-decide-modular-viability), and the construction of the path sits with [landscaping and external works](/blog/landscaping-and-external-works).
MADEmodular / MADEbetter.
MADEmodular / MADEbetter.