Find out more on the topic of inclusive design through expert insights, podcasts and project reviews.
SDA Housing Project by Studio Bright.
In her spotlight on inclusive design, Amelia Borg explores a growing industry awareness on design for accessibility, beyond technical obligation. Far more than encompassing physical access alone, inclusive design, she writes, encompasses “how a building can be understood and navigated, its acoustic and sensory qualities, the familiarity of its spaces, and the degree of choice and control afforded to its users.”
Borg offers three examples – Officer Specialist School by Kart Projects, SDA Housing Project by Studio Bright and Special Needs Dental Clinic by SPH Architecture and Interiors – each illustrating how accessibility can be embraced as a design proposition, leading to richer, more generous outcomes for all.
Find out more on the topic of designing housing for all through expert insights, podcasts, projects and more below:
ArchitectureAu Asks whether inclusive design should move from aspiration to obligation
This series of articles asks four experts and industry leaders the same provocation: “Our building code ensures occupants’ safety, amenity, health and accessibility – what about their sense of belonging?” The responses are diverse. Read Justine Clark’s response to the question here , Allen Kong’s here , Pragya Gupta’s here and Angelo Candalepas’s here .
In this Design Speaks Weekly podcast episode, ArchitectureAu editor Lucia Amies interviews Anthony Clarke, architect, scholar, writer, and founder of Bloxas – a practice that focuses on the relationship between architecture and care. Clarke discusses the challenges and opportunities of regulation when it comes to designing inclusive spaces that support users’ complex needs.
St Albans Housing by NMBW Architecture Studio and MADA, review by Rachel Hurst
As part of the Architecture Australia (March/April 2022) issue on designing for dignity, Rachel Hurst reviews St Albans Housing by NMBW Architecture Studio and MADA – an apartment block in outer Melbourne imagined as a new model for accessible, affordable housing that allows ageing in place.
Beyond barriers: Inclusive design as a creative opportunity by Tim Wilson
Folk Architects director Tim Wilson offers a personal lens on inclusive design as he discusses the architectural and urban challenges of his daughter’s disability. He writes, “The real benefit of inclusive design lies in its ability to change not just spaces, but the attitudes of those who inhabit spaces. It sends a message that everyone – regardless of age, ability, or background – is welcome. That means designing not only for people with physical disabilities, but also for neurodivergent individuals, those with hidden disabilities, and our ageing population. It means seeing difference not as a constraint, but as a catalyst for creativity.”
Cardboard templates and the evolution of a home by Maryam Gusheh and Catherine Murphy
In this interview, Sara Chesterman shares her advice and principles for retrofitting existing housing, resulting from her experience living with quadriplegia, raising a son, teaching and dancing. She says, “the evolution of the home has made me realise that architecture is not only a necessary support, but absolutely fundamental.”
New resource aims to make design more inclusive by InteriorsAu Editorial
This article from January 2025 marks the release of a new guide from the Champions of Change Coalition. Titled Equity by Design , the guide offers a structured approach to embedding principles of equality, accessibility and sustainability into design and development processes.
Prompted by plans for a new tech-city in Uruguay, Elizabeth Farrelly questions whether the concept of urban utopia, rooted in perfectionism, obstructs the fundamental notion …
In this extract from Kathryn Franco’s recent book on Sydney homebuilders Pettit and Sevitt, she explores Ironbark Architecture’s contemporary renovation to a 1967 home originally …
