Universal Kitchen and Bathroom Planning: Design That Adapts to People [Hardcover]

Mary Jo Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

This text's premise is that rooms should be designed or remodelled to suit the needs of all users through their lifecycle - kitchens and bathrooms that can be used by children, people with disabilities, and people who are aging are important for success in today's marketplace.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The principles of universal design accommodate not only the disabled but also people of varying sizes, shapes, abilities, and ages (traditional designs are based on able-bodied, nonelderly adults who make up less than 15 percent of the population). Peterson, a certified designer, discusses how kitchens and bathrooms can be built with these principles in mind. Numerous illustrations show how floor plans, storage, fixtures, and appliances can be configured to allow their use by anyone. A must for every library that can afford it.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Peterson's many pages of illustrated guidelines should be helpful to kitchen and bathroom planners trying to incorporate universal principles in their designs. Everything from planning for the two-cook kitchen to providing adequate space for bathroom-fixture access is carefully laid out, and there are a number of hints and suggestions for making daily chores easier for people with a wide range of abilities. Balance, strength, coordination, safety, mobility, sight, perception and cognition are some of the traits that need to be kept in mind. -- Fine Homebuilding

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070499802
• ISBN-13: 978-0070499805
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,843,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Remodeling & Renovation > Bathrooms

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Information, yes. Inspiration, no., September 5, 2000

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Universal Kitchen and Bathroom Planning: Design That Adapts to People (Hardcover)

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!)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lifetime Useable Kitchens and Baths, March 27, 2000

By 

John Christian (Bethesda, MD, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Universal Kitchen and Bathroom Planning: Design That Adapts to People (Hardcover)

Here is a great book that takes into account how our needs and use of the kitchen and bathroom change through life. It goes beyond the idea of providing access for the handicapped and shows how these rooms need to take into account how big or tall or short we are and considers how our ability to do things changes with age. "Universal Kitchen and Bathroom Planning: Design That Adapts To People" is a needed source book whether you are a design professional or a homeowner interested in remodelling.