Housing is Access & Design: The Fundamentals of Designing Inclusive Communities

As developers, designers, and builders who produce much-needed housing around the Bay Area we must address the lack of accessible housing options by increasing the supply of more inclusive communities. There is a need for disability forward housing solutions that are accessible to all throughout our 9 counties. In this Brown Bag training, you’ll learn from a developer, architect, and disability consultants’ perspectives on why increased accessibility in affordable housing, particularly multifamily housing, is essential and how you can immediately incorporate fundamentals learned at this session in your work.

In this training, you will learn:

1. Cost-effective steps developers can take to increase accessibility and inclusivity in affordable housing projects.
2. Key concepts that will help your organization in it’s journey to make affordable housing more accessible: Universal Design and its principles, cross-disability, sensory-friendly spaces, inclusive design, service-ready/service-linked housing, biophilic design, Circles of Support, and natural supports.
3. Benefits of accessible, human-centered design and learn about new housing design standards that are currently underway.

• Erick Mikiten, Architect and Universal Design Expert at Mikiten Architecture
  • Erick is a wheelchair-riding architect, with particular insight into Universal Design, and has over 20 years of industry-changing, creative multi-family housing designs. He is a previous lecturer on design at UC Berkeley.
• Maddy Ruvulo, Disability Consultant and Transportation Planner at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA)
  • Maddy’s work and advocacy focus are on creating more accessible cities for increased mobility in the Bay Area.
• Nicholas Sanchez, Disability Consultant on Deafness
  • Nicholas has a background in Interior Design and centers his advocacy work on making places more accessible for deaf people.