>>Problem - When he proposed building modifications, he was
>>told that due the sports hall winning architure awards
>>during the 1960's for design etc, no building modifications
>>can be made!!(unless thay are small, inside the building
>>and not permanent fixtures ie they can be removed easily!!!)
It seems a ridiculous notion that accessibility to a building should be
denied because of 'listing', in fact I know that in my husbands case, when
he converted a listed 17th century farmhouse to office facilities he was
required to consider access for disabled people. He was able to prove that
due to the type of business and activities to be carried out at the
premises, that it was unlikely that anyone with mobility problems would
visit, and if they did there were reasonable facilites to enable them to
work on the ground floor, so didn't have to make any drastic alterations.
However in the case of a public access building, surely ,this cannot be
upheld. There must be examples of where this type of bureaucratic
stupidity has been got round, I would ask organisations like English
Heritage and the National Trust, how they have managed.
Suggestions for ways round it:
1 Contact the original Architectural practice, ask whether they would
consider re-designing the building to meet part m .
2 Lobby local MP's and find out whether there is an all party
committee that you can contact
Cherie Lebbon
Research Fellow
Helen Hamlyn Research Centre
Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore
London SW7 2EU
Tel 0171 590 4242
Fax 0171 590 4244
e.mail [log in to unmask]
www.hhrc.rca.ac.uk
http://dan.interact.nl/
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