The defense is often that there’s no money for an elevator and no room for a ramp. And in crowded urban spaces, building a ramp with the gentle grade required to make it usable can, indeed, take up quite a bit of space — but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible. A recent project called “Song House” by AZL Architects demonstrates a smart approach to exactly that problem.

In China, many rural villages have high populations of elderly people living in places that aren’t well-equipped to meet their needs as they age. Meanwhile, younger generations flock to bigger cities to find work and raise their families. AZL explains that the past 40 years of rapid urbanization in China have caused a “hollowing-out” of millions of old, culturally significant villages. But these rural places still have something to offer all generations of families.

The architects state: “The natural humanistic values of rural settlements need to be reactivated through new production cycles and lifestyles. Shanghai, having the highest GDP in China and being a world-famous metropolis, is also facing difficulties and conflicts between its urban and suburban [populations]. Those living in the city are constantly under the pressure of high living costs, [while] the declining of rural communities and human settlements in suburbs is happening at the same time.”

The answer might lie in redeveloping these suburban and rural communities in a way that makes them appealing and accessible to people of all ages, says AZL. Their client for “Song House,” retired electrician Lao Song, needed to take in his elderly mother, but his apartment in Shanghai just wasn’t designed for it. He and his wife dreamed of moving back to their hometown of Nanson Village to demolish their dilapidated family home and build something new “suitable for both the elderly and the young.”

“In order to help relieve the living pressure of their daughter and son-in-law, Lao Song and his wife thought about inviting the parents of their son-in-law, who are in bad health conditions, to return to the Fengxian countryside together with them and take care of each other in their old ages. For this to happen, the families almost spent all of their savings as normal working-class [people]. This house also embodies the beautiful imagination and anticipation of a relaxed rural life for these families of eight.”

The architects’ solution was a multi-story concrete home arranged around an atrium —an update to the traditional Chinese courtyard house that’s fallen out of favor in recent decades. An external ramp visibly wraps around the outside of the house, reaching each of the three stories so the oldest generation of both families can get around while maintaining a sense of privacy and independence for everyone.

The atrium offers “a center of space and daily activities,” and off of it five bedrooms are splayed, each facing a different direction. Wheelchair accessible restrooms are located next to some of the bedrooms, though all parts of the house have their own small sitting areas. The interiors are designed to promote intergenerational contact and assistance while offering the refuge of private spaces when they’re desired.

This home may be located in a rural area, where there tends to be more space for such constructions, but it’s a beautiful example of thinking outside the box to be more inclusive of anyone who might want to enter. More than that, it turns an accessibility feature into an integral part of the design, and it looks fantastic to boot.

The post Accessibility Gets Graphic with a Cool Wraparound Wheelchair Ramp first appeared on Dornob.

This modern observation tower is soon-to-be part of the forest’s “Camp Adventure,” an amusement park filled with activities like zip lining and advanced indoor rock climbing. Guests will be able to get up-close views of the forest’s lakes, wetlands, creeks, cliffs, and aviaries as they traverse a series of pathways and bridges that ultimately lead to EFFEKT’s “Treetop Experience.”

To get to the tower, you’ll have to take one of two ramps. The “high” walkway gives visitors a look at the forest’s oldest and tallest trees, while the “low” walkway passes through some areas that have been lined with newly-planted saplings. You’ll also have to trek over some hilly terrain on your way to the Treetop Experience — a rarity in these parts of Denmark. There’s even a small amphitheater along the way where you can stop and have an afternoon picnic!

While designing the tower, EFFEKT asked themselves, “how can we protect a preserved forest and make it accessible at the same time?” Their answer was the Treetop Experience. “The tower is set gently and respectfully in the forest, disturbing the existing surroundings as little as possible, while creating a new unique opportunity to take a walk above the tree tops and experience the stunning nature from a new perspective,” explain the architects. “A 600 meters long tree top walkway around the forest, will be connected to the tower as a continuous experience. Both tower and walkway function as a seamless continuous ramp that will make the forest accessible for all, despite physical condition.”

The tower’s profile is almost as beautiful as the landscapes around it, which is a good thing considering its high visibility from places all around the park. Narrowing at its center and flaring out at both ends, the tower features a lattice-like open framework that supports its wooden walkways and curls upwards towards the sky. The resulting aesthetic makes the entire structure feel like a tautly-pressed spring that’s ready to launch itself, and anyone on it, into space. Once you reach the top, you’ll be able to look down at what seems like a vortex of guests making their way up the ramps.

The Treetop Experience is just a concept for now, but it’s well on its way to becoming a physical structure. As of yet, no official opening date has been announced. In January, EFFEKT revealed that they had been granted building permission and that they would release further details on the project as soon as they could. The firm’s website features several images of the tower and maps of its proposed walkway routes.

The post Spiraling Treetop Observation Tower in Denmark first appeared on Dornob.

Accessible design is a lot more than just a building trend: it’s a necessity. Making sure that everyone can access spaces regardless of their physical abilities is just a no-brainer. Proponents of “universal design,” as it’s called, are calling for architects, urban planners, builders and interior designers to adhere to a set of seven principles that could help make accessibility a reality, including eliminating unnecessary complexities and making sure the design can be used efficiently with minimal physical effort.

Building brand-new interiors or spaces that work for people of all abilities, like a modular kitchen that accommodates wheelchairs, is a lot easier than retrofitting a space, like adding elevators to homes with stairs. One concept by designer Chan Wen Jie hits on an interesting solution to the problem of stairs in older buildings, though it’s not exactly perfect.

The idea is quite brilliant: an add-on that converts stairs to a ramp reduces the amount of space that needs to be dedicated to either function, letting the same footprint serve both needs. There’s no need to demolish the existing stairs or segregate disabled users with a separate entrance.

In theory, a switch flips from ramp to step mode and back, allowing someone in a wheelchair to change it as needed. In practice, we see the first problem: if the ramp is kick-activated, it is not exactly wheelchair-friendly.

The larger issue, though, is one of slope – a typical wheelchair ramp needs to be much shallower than a normal staircase. Still, you could imagine extending the ramp out past the stairs to ease that slope, or evolve the design in different directions. As a starting point, it does raise good design questions, even if it doesn’t present all of the answers. It’s great to see people thinking about accessible design and how it can be incorporated into spaces all around us.

The post Stairs Convert to a Ramp on Demand first appeared on Dornob.

It is perhaps easy to make a house fit a landscape when there is a compelling landscape to respond to – but what of a beachfront property that makes it hard to respond to nature or keep a low profile?

BKK of Melbourne spent a good deal of time going back and forth between interior and exterior considerations, creating a beach retreat blending privacy and views, but also making something that seemed appropriate to its place.

The result feels organic and grown rather than singular and assembled – a series of masonry and metal ramps and offshoots that spring up out of the site like ancient mud architecture or a modern anthill.

While it is expressive on the outside, it is also cozy inside – a series of more personal-scale, fewer-windowed rooms that respond to functional needs, with larger openings rising toward the water.

The post House as Landscape: Beach Retreat Both Blends & Blooms first appeared on Dornob.

A single arcing gesture takes this stunning spiral home from two stories to three, with remarkable views out over the neighbors in all directions.

Set in Hiroshima and designed by Kimihiko Okada, the building was shaped by concerns for security and the eventual goal of having a little ground-level shop below.

As a result, the dwelling itself sits on tall stilts with a series of slotted windows to let in light (and provide views) in accordance with the needs of each space – thinner slits for bedroom spaces and nearly floor-to-ceiling fenestration in other places.

Throughout, the spaces are narrow and the emphasis is on movement, terminating in an open deck at the terminus of the spiral which sits atop its own tail below.

More from the architects

“The site is located in a residential area developed on a gentle perch in Hiroshima, overlooking a far view of the Inland Sea and Miyajima. The land of this area is developed into platforms form with several levels. The architecture was requested to have a view over the roof of the neighboring house, standing one level lower, and to consider security, for the site is located at the edge of the residential area, and to leave some space for extension when the client opens a small shop in the future.”

“To respond to the requests, the house is lifted from the ground. Like a bird’s nest, it called up architecture’s primary function of relief from disturbance. The house is open to the view and yet protected from the fear and environment. Slab and roof consists of one continuous plate. The variations of circulation and diverse spatial relations were achieved by placing a penetrating staircase. The extended plate made possible the future extension and softened the impression from the ground level. Spandrel wall changes its height accordingly to the thickness of slab. Together with the slab, the spandrel wall creates the continuous but various environments.”

The post Bird’s Nest: Lofted Spiral Home Rises to the Sky first appeared on Dornob.