Gaines Group Architects
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Inclusive Design / Universal Design / ADA

What is the coolest thing you have seen in the built environment that promote inclusivity? Inclusive design is a strategy that provides design solutions that work for everyone no matter their unique ability. This is a openness to strategies included in Universal Design and ADA...
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What improvements do you see in daily life that could make life easier for everyone?

I was out shopping with my mom this weekend. She has difficulty walking and uses handicap parking spaces to make it easier to get into stores. We drove to two different stores and parked in a handicap space each time. Both stores had design issues with the placement of the...

Design for the future: Universal Design for Every Building

Proper planning for buildings reduce the need for future renovations, extend the service life of buildings, and make it possible for people of all abilities to have access and function. When designing for accessibility the results often focus on wheelchair use in a building....
Easy Living Tax Credit

Easy Living Home

What is an Easy Living Home? Yes, another certification, this one is intended to encourage builders and home owners of single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes to include Easy Living Home features in the design and construction of new homes. Easy Living Home design features...

Great ideas to make your home “user-friendly”

1. Equitable Use – The design is useful and marketable to people with any ability. (Who wants to have to bend down to find that missing sock, make things easier for everyone) 2. Flexibility of Use – The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and...

Design Matters – Design for every ability

When you design a home it should be for people of any ability. You will not incorporate every aspect of universal design into every home, but you do the best you are able with every project. The idea of designing your home now for what might happen is difficult for most people to...

Design for a Lifetime

We are working on the design of a new multi-family project specifically for seniors in Charlottesville named Timberlake Place. This project pays close attention to accessibility of spaces to make the design as functional as possible to people of all abilities. This design...

Smart Solutions for your Home – Guest Post by Todd Hawkins

Guest Post from Todd Hawkins of Builder Fish. BuilderFish™ specializes in Universal Design (UD) to help everyone, particularly older Americans and people with disabilities, enjoy independence, comfort, ease and longevity in their homes. Class A general contractor Jonathan...