Lighting Design as a Universal Design Strategy to Support Functional Visual Environments.

The visual environment that surrounds us all makes us able to understand and interpret the world we live in. One of the most important players in that field is light. In general, it is useful for all of us to have aesthetic, appropriate and well-functioning lighting conditions. Research has shown that when it comes to visually impaired and hearing-impaired people it is of crucial importance in order to make their daily lives work and being self-reliant. Based on this research rules and regulation in a Danish context is studied to see how lighting design can support Universal Design in general and the specific users need in particular as described in the user organisations guidelines to accessibility. The regulations often focus on the quantitative aspects like light levels and the uniformity of the light. They certainly are important aspects however, they are not sufficient for users with specific needs. This point to the need for a broader approach to lighting design where the quantitative aspects meet the qualitative in order to fulfil a successful Universal Design of the visual environment. This paper present a general discussion on lighting design strategies and their impact on aesthetics and functionality of the visual environment based on classic theories on lighting design describe by Richard Kelly, William M. C. Lam and Hervé Descottes. These strategies are put in relation to the overall concept of the Universal Design principles and the guidelines outlined by The Danish Association of the Blind to support a visual stimulating environment.

Do Performance-Based Codes Support Universal Design in Architecture?

The research project 'An analysis of the accessibility requirements' studies how Danish architectural firms experience the accessibility requirements of the Danish Building Regulations and it examines their opinions on how future regulative models can support innovative and inclusive design - Universal Design (UD). The empirical material consists of input from six workshops to which all 700 Danish Architectural firms were invited, as well as eight group interviews. The analysis shows that the current prescriptive requirements are criticized for being too homogenous and possibilities for differentiation and zoning are required. Therefore, a majority of professionals are interested in a performance-based model because they think that such a model will support 'accessibility zoning', achieving flexibility because of different levels of accessibility in a building due to its performance. The common understanding of accessibility and UD is directly related to buildings like hospitals and care centers. When the objective is both innovative and inclusive architecture, the request of a performance-based model should be followed up by a knowledge enhancement effort in the building sector. Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives is suggested as a tool for such a boost. The research project has been financed by the Danish Transport and Construction Agency.

How to Frame Universal Workspace Lighting.

In 2012 the headquarters for the umbrella organisation 'Disabled people's organisation Denmark' opened, an office building that offers workspace for the administrations of all the member organisations. The ambition for the building was to be the most accessible office building in the world; regardless of disability everybody should be able to move around in the house and work in any of the offices. One, of many ambitions, was to design a functional and effective lighting scheme using as much daylight as possible, and integrating the artificial lighting design and daylight design. The lighting was intended to support all work stations in both one-man offices and open-plan offices with a functional and comfortable visual environment, fit for all users, regardless of disability. Based on a post occupancy evaluation conducted 2 years after the organisations moved in, the present paper evaluates the lighting design in the offices. It reveals that not all the people working in the offices have the same needs and preferences of lighting conditions; these differ even among users with the same disability. Accordingly the findings lead to a discussion on how to understand the concept of Universal Design. Based on the lighting theory of Peter Boyce, the paper discusses the idea of encompassing everyone in the same solution.