Safe Environments / Civil Engineering
Experiment 2 – An inclusive audit of building
WilliamArrolBuilding
- part of offices and lecture rooms
HeriotWattUniversity, Edinburgh
Description ofbuilding
The WilliamArrolBuilding is located at the campus of Heriot-WattUniversity in Riccarton, Edinburgh.
The building is in the north-west part of the campus and belongs to the School of Built Environment.
It has 4 floors and is divided to 2 parts by the stair tubus. Similar stairs tubuses are on both ends of the building, there is a lift in one of them.
The building is of an oblong shape, there is a corridor in the middle and offices and lecture rooms along both sides of the corridor.
Approach, routes
and street furniture
A walking distance from the nearest bus stop (public transport) in front of the main entrance to the University is very long, about 400m.But from the car parking by EdwinChadwickBuilding is very short. There is no seating provided along the outside route from and to the bus stop, and almost no along the inside route - through the buildings of the University.
The road in front of the entrance haslow kerb, a small ramp instead of kerb (see a picture)is very far from the entrance to the building. This feature isn’t pleasant for wheelchair user.
The approach to the building is wide enough – 1.6m or more. The surface is asphalt, it is even and slip-resistant.
The entrance to the building isn’t much visual distinguishable, it is in a stair tubus in a niche, butalmost under the bridge-tunnel from another building. There are no aural and tactile clues for finding the entrance.
There are some of lights along the roads and routes and no dangerous building features along the routes to the entrance.
Car parking
There are car parkings by Edwin Chadwick and JohnCoulsonBuilding.
There are some of bays for disabled user at the nearest places to the buildings, but not enough.
They are signified by green colour and the writing on the ground but by no signposts. These bays don’t have enough width to allow disabled drivers and passengers to transfer easily to a wheelchair.
One more bay for disabled people is between William Arrol and EdwinChadwickBuilding. There is possible to open car doors fully to allow disabled drivers and passengers to transfer to a wheelchair and to tail load. The surface is asphalt, it is smooth and even enough and free from loose stones.
There are some of lights around car parkings.
External ramp
There is a ramp in front of the main entrance. It is wide enough – 1.6m, but the grade is too steep – 1:5, 11.3°. It is very uncomfortable to going up and down for wheelchair user!
The surface is asphalt, it is slip resistant and firmly fixed.
The handrail is just on one side.
External steps
There are steps in front of the main entrance near a ramp. They have suitable handrails on each side, but no visual and tactile warnings at top and bottom of steps.
The treads are long enough and all of same length.
The bottom of steps joins exactly the kerb of road, it should be dangerous!
Entrances
There is the main entrance to the building from Third gate, and secondary entrances from Forth gate and from the south – in the middle of the building. There are also other flyover entrances from surrounding buildings.
The main entrance to the building isn’t clearly distinguishable from facade, it is in a stair tubus in a niche, but almostunder the bridge-tunnel from another building.
The door opening is wide enough for all users – 1.6m, but there is a 1cm high threshold. It very annoys wheelchair people, as well as the door handle in a grand height.
Standing people each side of the door can see each other and are seen, but no seated people, the window in the door is too high.
Just the main entrance suffers by these lacks.
There is adequate space available for a wheelchair user to open the door on both sides.
There is a weather mat of firm texture and flush with floor behind the entrance door.
Corridors
The corridors are wide enough (1.6m) for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre and turn and for other people to pass.The corridors are free of obstructions to wheelchair people and from hazards to people with impaired sight.
There is linoleum on the floor, and carpet in a part of second floor.
The direction or information signs are clearly visible from both standing and seated position, but the numbers of the door should be bigger (see picture on the right).
Internal doors
All internal doors are necessary for safety or functional reasons.
Some of them have similar colour like the walls around and it could be a little problem for people with impaired sight.
People each side of the door can see each other and are seen, either standing or seated in wheelchair. This holds for the fire protection doors dividing the corridor, but not for the doors between a corridor and rooms.
The opening width of the doors to the rooms is 90cm, it is sufficient for wheelchair user. The doors are opened into the rooms and because of this they don’t obstruct a corridor.
The doors are easily gripped and operated, but the door handles - especially at the fire protection doors - are too high for wheelchair user.
Internal stairs
There are three main stairs going through all 4 floors.
The treads are long enough and all of them are of the same length. The suitable handrails are on each side, but there are no visual and tactile warnings at top and bottom of steps. Landings are big enough and provided at intermediate levels in a long flight.
Each level is clearly identifiable by visual information, but no by tactile. Lighting is adequate.
Internal ramp
There is just one internal ramp in the middle of the building. It is between ground floor of the offices and lecture rooms part and of the hall part.This ramp isn’t for routine use, there are railings on the top, it is mainly for transfer of a material to the hall.
The ramp is wide enough – 1.1m, but it is bottle-neck by a case on the bottom. The grade is too steep – 1:4, 14.5°. It is very uncomfortable to going up and down for wheelchair user!
There is thelinoleum on the floor, it can slip, when it is wet.
There is no handrail for a ramp on any side. Alternative stairs are right nearby.
Internal surfaces
There is everywhere the linoleum on the floor, a carpet is just in a part of second floor. Both surfaces are suitable for passage of wheelchairs. The junctions between surfaces are correctly detailed.
The surfaces are slip-resistant, but when the linoleum is wet, it can slip.There are sometimes several reflections on the linoleum.
The colours of the surfaces are same on all floors, it can confuse and disorientate.
Lift
There is one lift for the whole building near the main entrance. The car dimension is sufficient (1.5×1.8m) to allow enough space for a wheelchair user. But there are no support rail, mirrors, etc.
The door opens wide enough (110cm) for wheelchair user, but the closer isn’t much delayed to allow a slow entry or exit.
There is no vocal indication of floor reached inside. Controls, including emergency call, are available easily for all users.
There are no visual or tactile information about a location of the lift. Alternative stairs are right nearby.
WCs (including
wheelchair users)
There are many toilets in the whole building. But they are on different places on each floor and it is confusing.
The fittings are easily distinguishable from background. There is linoleum on the floor, it can slip, when it is wet.
The toilets for ambulant disabled people are integrated into regular ones toilets. But the large-space compartment for disabled user are located just in a few of them, and it isn’t signed anywhere. So a disabled user has to find a toilet for a long time and his travel distance and spending time is much more grater than for able-bodied people.
The large-space compart-ment has sufficient space for disabled user to manoeuvre into position for frontal, lateral, angled and backward transfer unassisted and with assistance. Also the space outside the compartment is big enough to manoeuvre and a door open.
Hand-washing facilities are easy to reach for wheelchair users, but not the same with drying facilities.
Wayfinding
The overall of the buildings is reasonably clear and logical. There is a corridor in the middle and offices and lecture rooms along both sides of the corridor.
There are some of signposts of main directions near main entrances to the building. There are also a board with employees’ pictures and numbers of their offices. All these things are in a logical position.
The signposts are easy to read and easily identifiable against their background. Just the numbers of the door should be bigger.
The signs of toilets and fire exists are also easily readable. But there are no signposts for a disabled user – for his toilet and where the lift is.