safety & accessibility

From our engagement surveys and discussing with community members, safety and accessibilty are a concern that needs to be address in all programmed spaces and each part of the design. Ranked 3rd for importance in the future community center, safe controlled access spaces are crucial. The thought of typical security measures like policing or metal detectors were okay to the community but not ideal shown in the data below. To feel secure, the community prefered to have a 24/7 lobby attendent on site to oversee those entering the center over a keycard access center. They also prefereed a single building with internal circulation to more private spaces. Provding seperate lobby spaces for more private programming like health care is recommended to ensure safety and comfort of visitors.

Accessibility in the space deals with secure access as well as providing an inclusive and welcoming environment. Universal Design Principles should be applied in the design of the space to ensure adequate spaces for all abilities. Universal Design goes above the general ADA requirements and aims to make the built environment accessible for a wider range of people.

Rated 1-5 where 5 represents a highly suppoted idea and 1 represents a strongly unsupported idea. The shaded chart represents the number of votes for each number on the scale.

Community center should be a private safe space, and less public facing

Community center should have controlled access / metal detectors to access the facility

Access

Community center should be protected by armed guards

A lobby space with secure access may look like a 24/7 attendent monitoring and assisting with wayfinding through the space without the need for less friendly guards or metal detectors.

Designing for privacy through secluded courtyards and controlled circulation