Accessible Properties has been awarded first place in the Residential New Build category of the Tauranga Accessibility Awards.
The awards were judged and presented by the Tauranga City Council Disability Advisory Group. The purpose of the awards is to recognise those who have demonstrated their commitment towards building an inclusive community.
The Residential New Build prize was awarded to Accessible Properties and Classic Builders for a property at 38 Watling Street, Gate Pa, by tetraplegic Neil Cudby, who has extensive experience in Accessible Building Standards and was involved in the formulation of Lifemark standards.
Neil was not only impressed by the property, but also the strong relationship, joint vision, and commitment to learning and continuous improvement in universal design practices.
Dave Orrell, Project Manager Tauranga Reconfiguration Accessible Properties, says the key was recognising the potential in the 847sqmsite with only 14% site coverage with separate access.
“To fully utilise this site we designed a four-bedroom home still leaving a comfortable amount of space for visitor parking, grounds and a fenced play area for children,” Dave says.
“The property met our standard design briefs with wider doors and hallways, lever handles and hardware and so on. Because of the increasing need for ‘Accessible Housing’ we changed the acrylic shower and tray to a level entry and totally re-modelled the bathroom and toilet.”
Dave says the tenants, who had previously been in another AP property, were thrilled with the home and had been busy planting vegetables and shrubs.
Other recipients of awards included Bayfair Shopping Centre for the opening of their “Quiet Room” to cater for visitors with sensory processing and autism spectrum disorders, and the New Zealand Festival of Disabled Sport.
Caption: Dave Orrell receives the award.
.png){kind=small}