Design Review Feedback – The Universal Design Project

Robson Square Stramp

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This can be better.

I really like this design visually and from an inclusivity perspective. My concern would be that the wheelchair user would have to weave around people walking up it. People walking aren’t always paying attention. Although it would be really interesting from a social perspective to increase visibility of wheelchair users to people who walk, and might normalize it more. Functionally, it might not create chaos and frustration on a heavy traffic stairway. I do think it’s beautiful.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Upper body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Balance, Vision, Hearing, Stamina and/or endurance, Memory, Learning and/or interpreting information, Speaking or communicating, Sensitivity to light, noise, smells, touch, etc., Emotional and/or psychological wellness
Review date: 09/25/2020

This can be better.

I think it is a creative architectural design to incorporate a ramp, however, it is an extremely long ramp requiring a lot of physical effort by wheelchair users or caregivers. From the bottom, or the top, from a wheelchair users perspective, this is very imposing. This design may work best for a 2-3 story incline at maximum. As a non-wheelchair user, the ramp looks to be “the longest way” up. It is difficult to tell from the pictures about the texture of the ramp for traction, but I’m certain that a hand rail along the length of the ramp would be beneficial for safety.

This works well.

In an electric wheelchair, this ramp is no problem as long as the surface isn’t slick.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Upper body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Stamina and/or endurance
Review date: 07/01/2020

This works well.

Aesthetically beautiful design as well

This can be better.

In my opinion, this design is great for space-saving and it offers some criteria of universal design, however it does also create some difficulty for population with perceptual issues or wheelchair-bound. It does seem difficult for wheelchair-bound people to utilize the ramp as there are no support for them to pull on if they get fatigue, or simply don’t have the upper limb strength to go up in the first place (imagining myself in their place haha). For wheelchair-bound people who are not good in balancing or let’s say getting distracted somehow, there’s also a great risk for them to go off the ramp and result in falls. For people with vision or perceptual issues, this could probably be solved with highlighted or contrasting colours so they realise where one edge ends and where the corner is. I’ve been using stairs like this once, it’s was a short flight of stairs but still i find myself always stepping on the wrong side and risk twisting my ankle. Maybe including handrails on the edges might be better? In short, the design seem impressive at first sight, but it would require practical use to discover if its really universal.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: (None of the above)
Review date: 03/20/2020

This works well.

While I’ve never used one but visually it looks functional for almost all abilities. I would think some contrasting would help from a visual perspective. The handrails in addition to the ramp makes it super functional however looks like the right elevations and space is needed to create something like this. Great option for steep and wide inclines!

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Upper body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Balance, Vision, Hearing, Stamina and/or endurance, Learning and/or interpreting information, Speaking or communicating, Sensitivity to light, noise, smells, touch, etc., Emotional and/or psychological wellness
Review date: 03/19/2020

This won’t work.

This decision is dangerous for everyone. Even a walker putting his foot on an inclined surface can threaten a dislocation. It is not known how this can be difficult when transit along the steps and ramp intersects. Nothing when there are not many people, but what if it is a lot of traffic? And if we talk about universal design, then this is about the absence of both steps and a ramp. That is, the strap can claim the role of “accessibility” but not universality. But as it is, it is traumatic.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Vision
Review date: 03/19/2020

This can be better.

Would require a lot of stamina (maybe rest bench halfway up)

This works well.

This looks really good. I like that the stairs appear to create a lip to the ramp, but am wondering how effectively it would prevent a wheelchair from going over the edge?

This can be better.

Although I appreciate the integration of the ramp into the stairs, I am fearful that, during times of high use, the lack of any demarcation between the stairs and ramp may cause interactions between able bodied and disabled users, causing disabled users to be pushed out of the way and onto the stairs .

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Balance, Stamina and/or endurance
Review date: 03/13/2020

This can be better.

The lack of railings and edging is an issue for users of mobility devices for balance and for safety. If the weather is poor and a wheel/etc slips off the edge of a ramp, it’s a major fall hazard. What happens if a person loses control? The lighting also looks poor for navigation at night.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Upper body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Balance, Stamina and/or endurance, Memory, Speaking or communicating, Sensitivity to light, noise, smells, touch, etc., Emotional and/or psychological wellness
Review date: 03/12/2020

This won’t work.

I don’t see how this could possibly be functional at all for someone with vision loss. Maybe it should have color contrast somehow so they could stay on the ramp. It just looks horrendously dangerous to me, for several populations. So many trip hazards for someone going up or down… At the top, it looks like you could just fall off the sidewalk down the steps (on the far right side of the first picture, at the very top step). It doesn’t seem as if there is a consistent “bumper” for lack of a better word along the edge of the ramp. If your wheels hit one of the steps on the edge, what would happen? Also, for someone who is rolling themselves up, is there room on the landings for one person to rest and another chair pass them going up or down? It doesn’t look like the landings are big enough for people to pass in two chairs.

This won’t work.

The ramp is not safe. There are no wheel guards for slipping off the path. The rails are not safe. It stops before the end of the steps and the interrupted path makes for a fall risk.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: (None of the above)
Review date: 03/10/2020

This can be better.

For people overwhelmed being outside and having trouble processing information, it seems that there is too much going on. In addition, from a memory standpoint, I think there would be difficulty navigating. It also seems like a fall risk but hard to see for sure in the photos. I wanted to choose “this won’t work” but maybe it would be great. I’m only going off of what I’m seeing.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Memory, Learning and/or interpreting information, Speaking or communicating, Sensitivity to light, noise, smells, touch, etc., Emotional and/or psychological wellness
Review date: 03/10/2020

This can be better.

I love the innovative nature of making the path of travel more inclusive so everyone can take the same path. I shared an article with this picture recently. One thing I can’t help but notice is that there are no handrails on the ramp portions…the include them on the stairs, but not the ramps.

This can be better.

Well you’d be going in a different flow of traffic as people using the stairs, so depending on how busy it is, there could be a lot of everyone bring in each others way.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Upper body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation
Review date: 03/10/2020

This can be better.

On first glance it’s a really cool design. My only concerns would be if people still need a rail with the ramp? This would prevent kids/skateboarders from running all over them. Perhaps changing the pavement to be a different color would be helpful for people with vision impairments.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: (None of the above)
Review date: 03/10/2020

This can be better.

At first glance, this looks like the perfect design; however, my concerns with this concept incude:
1. Do the steps that are on the down edge of the ramp act as a rail to keep the wheelchair on the ramp?
2. What is the slant of the ramp? It’s a long uphill climb for a manual wheelchair user. Also, coming down, it looks like a pretty steep slope. It could be difficult for the manual wheelchair user to keep his wheelchair under control.
3. Steps do not appear very deep which could cause a problem for the average user
4. The picture in the upper right corner includes an awful lot of steps. Would the average user actually utilize these steps? I think they’d be looking for an easier way to get to the top. It’s just not practical. The design is better suited for an average number of steps.
5. How practical are they to keep clean of snow and ice?
I could assess it better if I could actually be there at the steps.

This works well.

If it’s all that it appears to be , wow! Besides being a feat from a construction standpoint and visually stunning, it does seem workable for a person using a wheelchair. The slope is not too steep, it looks like a wide enough space, the landing spaces between switchback sections are helpful. Could two people in chairs pass each other? Would snow/ice be cleared easily enough? Would crowds of ambulatory people skip the stairs ? Strollers with young children, folks with “bad knees”, users of other mobility aids all could benefit.

This can be better.

I like the idea of trying to make it inclusive for all users by blending the ramp with the steps, but there’s absolutely no color contrast between where the ramp ends and the step begins. A person could easily roll their walker or wheelchair or even make a mistep while walking and not realize they’re on the step and not the ramp anymore. The ramp does look steep, and a person who needs railings must walk along the edges. The railings don’t even connect. Also, there are so many switchbacks to the ramp that it would take forever for someone in a wheelchair or using another mobility device to get up or down. Because of that, there’s not really a great place for someone to “rest” if they need to as they are going up or down. I’m curious to see how someone with cognitive and/or memory impairments would figure out how to use the space or if it would be confusing for them.

This can be better.

For someone with ASD, this might be visually overstimulating and confusing. Making a more defined/framed entrance for both stair users and ramp users might be helpful. For example, the railing provides some direction but could it still feels too open.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Speaking or communicating, Emotional and/or psychological wellness
Review date: 03/09/2020

This won’t work.

I feel like this is an accident waiting to happen. Needs rails along the ramps. Need something to mark the sides of the ramp visually and tacitly.

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: (None of the above)
Review date: 03/09/2020

This can be better.

It’s cool looking and I think it works, but it takes up a lot of space?

This reviewer has experience with impairment related to: Upper body strength, movement, and/or sensation, Lower body strength, movement, and/or sensation
Review date: 03/09/2020