Storage In An Accessible Dwelling

Two things are true about storage in accessible housing. The dwellings need more of it than equivalent conventional dwellings, and they usually have less that a resident can actually use.

Both come from the same cause, which is that the reachable band is narrower than a standard cupboard.

The reachable band

A seated resident can comfortably reach a range that is considerably shorter than the height of a wardrobe.

Which means a full height wardrobe with a single hanging rail at conventional height gives a seated resident almost no usable storage. The rail is too high and the shelf above it is decorative.

The fix is not complicated: a lowered or adjustable rail, shelving within the band, and drawers rather than deep low shelves. Drawers bring the contents out to the resident instead of requiring the resident to reach in.

Depth matters as much as height. A deep shelf within reach is still unusable at the back.

Doors

Hinged wardrobe doors swing into the space a wheelchair needs to be in to use the wardrobe.

Sliding doors do not, and they are the default in a well-designed accessible bedroom. The compromise is that a slider only ever exposes half the opening, which is worth planning around rather than discovering.

Bi-fold works where the opening is narrow. Open shelving with no door works better than people expect, particularly in a laundry or utility position, and it removes the operation entirely.

Handles are a detail that decides whether any of it works: D pulls or continuous rails rather than knobs, positioned within the reach band.

Equipment storage nobody plans for

This is where accessible dwellings run short.

**A powered wheelchair charging position,** which needs floor space, a dedicated outlet and a location that does not block a circulation path. A chair charging in a hallway is a hazard and it happens because nowhere else was provided.

**A spare chair or a manual chair,** which many residents have.

**A hoist, where it is mobile** rather than ceiling mounted, which needs a parking space out of the way.

**Consumables,** which in a supported dwelling can be a significant volume and are frequently stored in a bedroom because there is nowhere else.

**Staff storage,** in a dwelling with on-site support, which is separate from the resident's and sometimes needs to be lockable.

Each of those is floor area. Added at design stage it is a cupboard. Added later it is a bedroom that stopped being a bedroom.

Kitchen and bathroom storage

The [kitchen](/blog/kitchens-and-joinery-in-a-factory-build) is the room where the reach band bites most, because the useful storage in a conventional kitchen is in overhead cupboards and deep base cupboards, and neither works seated.

Drawers throughout the base cabinets, a lowered section of overhead storage or none at all, and a pantry with pull-out shelving rather than fixed ones.

In the bathroom, storage within reach of the shower and the basin rather than in a mirrored cabinet above the tap.

Group houses

Shared dwellings need storage that is clearly allocated, because storage that belongs to everybody belongs to nobody.

Which means per-resident storage in bedrooms, separate storage for shared consumables, and a lockable position for anything that has to be secured. Getting this wrong produces a house where personal items are kept in bedrooms because the shared storage is not trusted.

The design test

Walk the plan as the resident. Every item they use daily should be within the reach band, without moving anything else, from the position they would be in.

Most plans fail that test on at least three items, and every one of them is cheaper to fix on the drawing than in the finished house.

What we deliver.

MADEmodular / MADEbetter.