Universal Bathroom Planning, Design That Adapts to People [Paperback]

National Kitchen & Bath Association (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

This book concentrated on how to design baths to fit the needs of all users. Highlights space planning, bathroom guidelines, countertops/cabinets, fixtures and equipment safety and more. Fully illustrated. Authored by Mary Jo Peterson, CKD, CBD. A certified kitchen and bathroom designer and educator, Mary Jo specializes in universal design and accessibility issues within the building industries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As our nation struggles with changing lifestyles and the growing demand for aging in place, this book demonstrates ways to continue residential utility and accessibility to enhance the home environment. This book is a positive addition to the library of any builder or designer who is in touch with home building and remodeling. -- Ron Burton, Director, Energy and Home Environment Department, National Association of Home Builders

Checklists, case studies, resources and background chapters make this one of, if not the most up-to-date and comprehensive publication available anywhere on making bathrooms work for everyone. -- John P.S. Salmen, AIA, President, Universal Designers & Consultants, Inc.

This book offers practical information on bathroom design. It will greatly help architects and designers involved in planning bathrooms for universal use. -- Abir Mullick, Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access, Department of Architecture and Planning, SUNY, Buffalo

With this book, Ms. Peterson and the NKBA have helped to dispel the myth that universal design is institutional in appearance. Universal Bathroom Planning, together with its predecessor, Universal Kitchen Planning provide design practitioners with tools and information that transcend accessibility codes and make universal concepts a part of all good design. -- Dean Evans, AIA, Vice President of Research, American Institute of Architects

About the Author

Mary Jo Peterson is a certified kitchen and certified bathroom designer and educator with specific expertise in universal design. She focuses her Connecticut design practice on residential and commercial building project in the New England region of North American and provides consulting support to major home builders nationwide.

Author and teacher of the National Kitckhen & Bath Association training program on universal design, Mary Jo is a member of NKBA's Practicing/Professional Instructors. Mary Jo travels the U.S. and Canada making presentations on accessible design issues to varioius industry segments.

She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Association of Safe and Accessible Products, and has completed numerous writing and speaking assignments on its behalf.

Currently serving on a number of cross-agency committees, Mary Jo works at integrating universal design into homes and products. This work has involved her with state and federal government agencies and advocacy groups, as well as professional organizations, such as National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), American Institute of Architects (AIA) and National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). She actively promotes education and acceptance of universal design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: The Association (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887127011
• ISBN-13: 978-1887127011
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,863,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WELL DONE ! ! !, September 6, 2005

By 

J. OBRIEN (Chicago, IL suburbs) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Universal Bathroom Planning, Design That Adapts to People (Paperback)

I used this, and its companion volume on Universal Kitchen Design when we did a major remodel/addition to a 1950's ranch. As we are about to do another, I'm disappointed that the Bath volume is "no longer available" The pair were of GREAT help to us and to our architect as we planned for eventual wheeelchair mobility. Product information was especially helpful in order to avoid an "institutional" look to grab bars and other things like putting a ramp inside a garage instead of outside leading to the front door.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OOPs., September 5, 2000

By 

David Wihowski (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Universal Bathroom Planning, Design That Adapts to People (Paperback)

IGNORE MY REVIEW OF THIS BOOK. IT WAS FOR A BOOK WITH A VERY SIMILAR TITLE.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good information, no inspiration, September 5, 2000

By 

David Wihowski (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Universal Bathroom Planning, Design That Adapts to People (Paperback)

This book is a good resource for builders, architects or people building a house.

Universal Design DOES NOT EQUAL wheelchair accessibility and this book makes that very clear. Universal Design (hereafter UD)means taking into account the best way to design for everyone, not just the small percentage of average height, "able-bodied", 20-50 year old "perfect" people in the world. This book also points out that fewer people want to move in with their kids or into a "home" when they get older. So why build houses that will prevent this from happening?

UD is about making things useable for people of almost all physical conditions; sight-impared, mobility-impared, mentally-impared, size-impared (short or tall), and even "average, healthy" people.

This book makes it abundantly clear that UD is not difficult to do on new construction. UD does not have to add hundreds of square feet to your plan.

The book does not, however, have a lot of photos or ideas on how to make UD attractive. The small number of photos in this book are small, black and white, and poor quality. They do make their point, even though they are not pretty to look at.

The book is FULL (almost cover to cover) of diagrams and line drawings which show the possibilities AND detailed requirements of universal design. Many of the details are wheelchair-oriented, but this is because wheelchair access is often the lowest common denominator.

If you need to be concerned about UD or if you feel that it is a smart thing to do (I firmly believe it is a smart thing to do), then buy this book. There are no pretty, inspiring photos to show you how to do it beautifully, but there are tons of details to make sure you don't do it wrong. EVERY ARCHITECT AND BUILDER OUGHT TO HAVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK.

(P.S. Just think of the "fun" you would have in your current house if you had to use a walker, wheelchair, or only one hand. What about even a broken leg? You WILL more than likely get old sometime. You could even be injured and become disabled (even if only temporarily). Do you want your house to be a barrier in that event? UD really should be something everyone thinks about, seriously!)