Physically handicapped persons often find it difficult to access a regular kitchen. A kitchen which will be used often by a physically challenged individual must focus on two important aspects: accessibility and mobility. The design of wheelchair accessible kitchens should ensure that the person is able to move about freely and access everything around the kitchen with ease. The design of such a kitchen will also depend on whether it will be used exclusively by the disabled family member or by all family members.
Design should facilitate the workflow:
Your activities in the kitchen begin with taking fresh food out of the refrigerator, washing them in the sink, chopping and seasoning, placing them on the stove for cooking. Once the cooking is done, the food is placed in the serving dish. After the meal is over you may start cleaning the dishes. This again requires you to stand near the sink and scrape your dishes and put them back in the cabinets after cleaning. So just like how you need to walk around the kitchen quite a bit - the wheelchair-bound individual will require a lot of space to navigate his/her way in the wheelchair around the kitchen. For this reason, a galley or a straight line kitchen is best for wheelchair users. An L shaped or a U shaped kitchen can also be designed to facilitate the movement of the wheelchair.
Countertops:
Another feature of wheelchair accessible kitchens is a continuous countertop. Such an arrangement makes it easy to slide the utensils from one point to another. Unconnected countertops make it difficult for the wheelchair-bound individual to carry the utensils from one place to another.
The height of the countertops for an accessible kitchen should be lower than the standard height. You must ensure that the sink, the cooktop and the work counter are at a level that is easy to access. The level of the counter should not be uneven as this may complicate the work for the user.
Kitchen sink and garbage disposal:
The sink of an accessible kitchen should have flat floor space, a comfortable height and knee space. The user can best judge the type of arrangement that is comfortable and effective. You must also ensure that the user finds it easy to clean the sink faucet. If you decide to place a garbage bin below the sink, it might interfere with the knee space for the person using the wheelchair. Placing a small bin near the water sink is a better option.
Kitchen appliances like the refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher and water purifier must be placed at a level which the user can reach easily. The wheelchair user often finds it difficult to access the lower cabinets. The cabinets and the drawers should be placed at a convenient position and height so that they can be easily accessed by the user. Electric switches should also be positioned such that the wheelchair bound individual can reach them easily.
Wheelchair accessible kitchens should be designed keeping the unique requirements of the wheelchair-bound individual in mind. Make sure you consult a reputed contractor who has a good track record of designing such kitchens.
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