Universal Design

Universal Design Principles

Typically a university campus is a large complex cluster of buildings that can be approached by varying modes of transport to multiple entrances. People will typically arrive at Curtin University by foot, bus, bicycle, taxi or by a private vehicle. All people arriving at the campus must have access to easy to interpret information enabling them to determine the most effective arrival point, according to their intended destination.

Provide parking and drop off points consistent with the user’s expectations and intuition, and, provide effective feedback and prompting along the arrival path. No person should be required to take a more complex, longer or more difficult routes to gain access to the campus facilities.

Minimise adverse consequences of accidental arrival at the incorrect location, with logical vehicular and pedestrian pathways and easy to interpret wayfinding strategies, enabling mistakes to be easily rectified.

Drop Off Points

Design Criteria

Within the Curtin context drop off and pick up points should:

Be located at main campus entry points accommodating people who arrive by car, van, mini bus or taxi. Be designed in accordance with AS2890.6 for accessible parallel parking bays.
Be easy to visually identify from campus arrival points.
Provide parallel bays with the shared area raised with a tactual cue and separation between pedestrians and vehicles. Treat the kerb edge of the raised shared area with a colour that strongly contrasts to the surrounding surfaces, or install a strongly colour contrasting band 300-400mm wide at the kerb edge.
Be well-lit and furnished with a sheltered pause point and campus assistance point.
Provide a pause point with clear sight line to approaching vehicles.
Have a slip resistant and level surfaces.
Not require pedestrians to negotiate a vehicle-way and furnished with pedestrian crossings as required.
Connect directly to the accessible campus route via an easy to identify, visually apparent accessible path of travel.
Be located to minimise travel distance and level change to the accessible campus route.
Provide ample wheelchair approach and turning space on a flat, traversable surface that is not prone to leaf litter, nuts or pooling water and is exclusive of storm water drainage grates and slopes.
Have clear directional signage from perimeter council footpaths for pedestrian arrival in keeping with Curtin’s wayfinding strategy.
Have campus map provided at all key arrival points.
Provide sanitary facilities in close proximity.
Have potential for secure, sheltered scooter parking in close proximity to accessible drop off and pick up, as and when required to meet the individual need of a campus user. Scooter parking to connect directly to the accessible campus route with an accessible path of travel.

Provide shelter from wind, rain and sun as appropriate to the prevailing weather conditions, while maintaining clear sightlines to approaching vehicles and maximising pedestrian safety and surveillance.The weather protection or shelter should be of an appropriate size to accommodate anticipated pedestrian numbers with a level surface with any required grade to manage the shedding of water kept within very shallow tolerances.

Ideally extend the shelter (without compromise for weather protection) to protect people transferring into a vehicle. The extended shelter however must not create an overhead obstruction to vans or vehicles modified with a roof mounted hoist.

Accessible Parking

Design Criteria

Within the Curtin context accessible parking bays should:

Be logically located to minimise travel distance and level change to the accessible campus route and identified by directional signage from main entrance roads.
Consider location of grouped accessible bays in an area without through-traffic, to maximise safety of persons at the rear of the bay or where a bay may be occupied by a larger vehicle or modified van.
Connect directly to the accessible campus route via an easy to identify, visually apparent accessible path of travel.
Be well-lit for good visibility, safety and passive surveillance.
Be designed to avoid stormwater drains and falls or other obstructions such as speed humps that may pose a barrier to the accessible bays, transfer spaces or connecting paths of travel.
Be furnished with a campus assistance point and a nearby pause point.
Have potential for secure, sheltered scooter parking in close proximity to accessible parking as and when required to meet the individual need of a campus user. Scooter parking to connect directly to the accessible campus route with an accessible path of travel.
Consider provision of ‘easy access’ bays in association with accessible parking bays for persons who do not require the full rigors of an AS2890.6 design accessible parking bay (for layout and dimension) but, due to a medical condition, injury or the like, cannot travel long distances to campus destinations.

Ideally shelter all ticket machines to reduce screen glare and reflection and to ensure comfort of all users.
If people who use the accessible parking are required to obtain a ticket from a payment / dispensing machine, the machine associated with the accessible parking should be located to allow a person who uses a mobility device to approach, reach the controls and exit.
Provide wayfinding information in decked or large or featureless car parks to aid user orientation and to aid recall of the location of a parked vehicle.
The pedestrian route from the car park to the adjacent building(s) and /or access route to the campus must be clearly identifiable to all users.
In decked car parking the accessible parking bays should be located on the most convenient level and at the most convenient position to the adjacent building(s) and /or access route to the campus.

Pedestrian crossing

Design Criteria

Within the Curtin context pedestrian crossings should:

Be clearly defined for easy recognition by drivers and pedestrians.
Be designed to minimise road camber to assist people who use a mobility device making a road crossing.
Have width and surface that meet accessibility requirements and the Principles of Universal Design. See the section pertaining to Access Routes in this document, for more information.
Have kerb ramps on either side of the crossing that are orientated so that the kerb ramp slopes align and provide ‘direction of travel’ cueing.
Have where appropriate, a raised pedestrian crossing that provides a barrier-free path of travel across an internal roadway. As this will result in a flush transition, this style of crossing must be furnished with warning tactile ground surface indicators as per AS1428.4.1 2009.
There be any associated pedestrian crossing linking to accessible parking or drop off that provides the sole means of access from the parking to the nearby footpath for a mobility device user, the sloped sides to have a gradient no steeper than 1:8 and the width of the crossing must also suffice as a kerb ramp landing as per AS1428.1 2009.

When specifying line marking products, ensure they are slip resistant when wet.

Campus assistance points

Design Criteria

Within the Curtin context campus assistance points should:

Be installed on a level surface with sufficient wheelchair approach and turning space. For information on turning spaces for mobility scooters refer to the Appendix – Disability awareness.
Have intercoms and controls that are easy to reach, simple and intuitive to use. For more information refer to the Internal Amenities section.
Be lit for night use.
Be in luminance contrast to the surrounding surfaces and feature clear identification signage.
Feature easy to read, clear concise informational signage.

Campus Arrival