Access Statements

Design for living, inclusive design and accessible environments are all phrases that are increasingly common place in today’s world. However, the phrases alone do not produce buildings and space that fulfil the ideology behind the terminology! Access Statements provide a framework which promotes and supports forward planning for accessibility.

They accompany planning applications for public areas and are used to show that the designers have thought about how the public will access and use the space.

This is why statements should be purpose written for each proposal. Whilst producing an Access Statement may seem like a daunting prospect but guidance is available from the Commission for Architectural and the Built Environment www.cabe.org and the Disabled Rights Commission www.drc-gb.org.

Both these website provide guidance on writing Access Statements.