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Themes: Inclusive Design

Inclusive Design Standards updated for 2019

The Global Disability Innovation Hub with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) have released Inclusive Design Standards, updated for 2019 with a second edition. While the document details best practice for inclusive design within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the wider built environment in East London, the approach and methodology captured is transferable across all design disciplines and geographic locations.

The Inclusive Design Standards have been set out in four key parts:

  • Achieving inclusive neighbourhoods
  • Movement
  • Residential developments
  • Public buildings

Download the document below. You can also read the Foreword by Tanni Grey-Thompson and the Introduction.

Foreword by Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson, LLDC Board Member Paralympic Gold Medallist

This second edition [May 2019] of the London Legacy Development Corporation’s (LLDC’s) Inclusive Design Standards (IDS), originally published in March 2013, is evidence of the positive impact and continued legacy created by the enormous success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in London back in the summer of 2012.

It is well documented that the ambition to create, ‘the most accessible Games ever’ resulted in a Park and venues that excelled in their inclusive design and the story could have ended there. However, LLDC embraced this approach and made ‘Championing equalities and inclusion’ one of their four corporate priority themes that underpin every aspect of their work.

In an unprecedented move, they also invested £10m in delivering a Paralympic legacy programme that delivered a broad range of projects creating opportunities for disabled people while recognising and celebrating the impact of disability sport, arts and culture. Ensuring that all subsequent development projects on and around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London met the IDS was a key strand of the Paralympic legacy programme, leading LLDC to deliver inclusive places and neighbourhoods that can be used easily and enjoyed by everyone, equally.

Another example of LLDC acting on their priority theme to champion equality and inclusion has been their support of the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub). Born out of the Paralympic legacy programme, GDI Hub is building a movement to accelerate disability innovation for a fairer world by harnessing academic excellence, innovative practice and cocreation to tackle global challenges from a new perspective – all to have a positive impact on the lives of disabled people around the world.

GDI Hub is now in a strong position to promote the approach taken in east London to help influence and create similarly inclusive places and neighbourhoods well beyond the planning boundaries of LLDC. Surely that’s a legacy London can be proud of.

Introduction

Inclusive design can help all human beings experience the world around them in a fair and equal way by creating safe and accessible environments for all members of the community.

When it comes to the built environment, there is a difference between being ‘accessible’ versus being ‘inclusive’. Access can be made fairly easily in most cases, the emphasis typically being to provide step-free, level physical access.

Delivering genuine inclusive design requires more. It requires more thought, more engagement, more innovation and more desire to create the best design possible for all intended users. It’s about people. It considers that we are all different and will have differing needs and requirements throughout our lives. It considers a wide range of abilities, age groups and backgrounds. It reflects faith requirements of the local community, hidden disabilities such as autism and chronic pain and addresses the important issues likely to affect people with different sensory abilities. In doing so, it helps create better designs, more intuitive designs and usable designs that ultimately benefit all of us throughout our lives.

Our Process

LLDC has developed a process to help deliver inclusive design across all its development projects and create inclusive places and neighbourhoods in this part of east London, as summarised below:

Design Principal – Inclusive Design

LLDC created this role to champion inclusive design for the organisation, shape LLDC led schemes and advise LLDC’s Planning Policy and Decisions team

Inclusive Design Standards

These Standards are enshrined in LLDC’s planning policy (Local Plan Policy BN.6: Requiring inclusive design) to ensure all development within LLDC’s planning boundary meets them as required

Built Environment Access Panel

LLDC support an independent Built Environment Access Panel (BEAP) to review all the development work taking place on the Park. BEAP members are made up of disabled and non-disabled people, all with vast experience and knowledge of inclusive design in the built environment

Disability Innovation

The Park is constantly changing and LLDC are always looking for new ways to innovate and remain at the forefront of inclusive urban design A Living Document This is a living document and will continue to evolve to take into account changes in recognised good practice guidance as appropriate. LLDC will write to the local planning authority every three years and on any other occasion where LLDC wishes to amend this document, to seek their approval of the updated edition or for their approval that an updated edition is not necessary.

Colour of Baroness Grey Thompson.

GDI Hub is now in a strong position to promote the approach taken in east London to help influence and create similarly inclusive places and neighbourhoods well beyond the planning boundaries of LLDC. Surely that’s a legacy London can be proud of.

Tanni Grey-Thompson