Whatever your household habits, age, or health condition, your home should be designed for your comfort. This idea is at the heart of a concept gaining popularity across the UK in 2025 – universal home design.
While traditionally the focus was on making living spaces accessible for individuals with limited mobility (such as the elderly/people with disabilities/ those recovering from injuries) today's conversation increasingly highlights flexibility and comfort for anyone. The goal is to create environments that are equally comfortable for people at different life stages: singles and couples, large families with kids and remote workers, older adults, and more. Let’s explore the key principles that guide the creation of truly universal living spaces.
Equal Conditions For All
The core principle of universal design is that housing should be comfortable, functional, and safe for all residents, regardless of their age, physical ability, or lifestyle. The most popular ways of implementation:
- Wider Doorways: In the UK, Lifetime Homes Standards have set a minimum recommended spacing of 800mm. This is wide enough for someone using crutches, or a wheelchair, or anyone who needs to move furniture from one room to another without risk.
- Anti-slip Coatings: It is imperative to increase safety in the bath and kitchen areas.
- Proper Placement of Switches/Sockets: They should be located at a comfortable height, which is especially important for pregnant women, children, and people with back problems.
- Step-free Access: This is crucial at the front entrance. A convenient ramp is a good alternative. This approach makes it easier for people with prams, heavy shopping, children, or those using wheelchairs to enter the flat.
- Good Lighting: The light should not be too bright, creating glare and dark areas, it should evenly illuminate the flat. There is also a growing preference for maximizing natural light.
Adjustability
The design of the home should allow for easy modifications to meet the changing needs of its residents. For example:
- Spacious Bathrooms: This provides the opportunity to install additional handrails and seating in shower cubicles. Clear space in front of the sink is also particularly important.
- Worktops/Cooking Surfaces/Wall Cupboards with Height Adjustability: Free space around to allow for wheelchair access is also a plus.
- Pull-out Furniture: While this often refers to wardrobes, the trend of maximizing space in smaller homes has made fold-out sofas, expandable tables, and other multifunctional pieces increasingly popular.
Maximum simplicity
The resident should intuitively understand how to use all interior elements. The flat needs to be designed logically with clear zoning and distinct transitions. At the same time, lighting and temperature control should also be as simple as possible - it can be both smart voice/remote control systems and massive interfaces/buttons with large fonts. To simplify navigation and designate functional zones, designers are increasingly using different colours and other visual reference points.
Low Physical Effort
All functional elements should be as user-friendly as possible, so that they can be used by anyone regardless of their physical abilities. How this is often realised:
- Touch Taps or Lever Taps: Twisting ones are recognised as less convenient and functional.
- Windows with the Option of Locking in Different Positions: They must be easy to open/close.
- Automatic Doors
- Voice control systems (“smart home” option)
- Convenient and Easy-to-Open Door Handles, and so on.
Adaptation of sound and visual elements
The accommodation should be suitable for individuals with hearing, visual, or other sensory impairments. This is often realised by providing important information (e.g. about adjusting the thermostat) not only in text but also with tactile icons. Another popular option is to have both audible and visual signals when the doorbell rings. Adjustment and customisation options will also be a plus, increasing the comfort of the residents.
Our Armstrong Simmonds Architects studio follows all of these principles. Learn more about our projects and services on our website.
How Universal Design Principles Create Truly Accessible Living Spaces