Urban Ability is a consultation company dedicated to overcoming barriers and obstacles found in the built environment. We have worked on projects across Canada helping to create accessible environments for our customers. We bring youthful energy and ingenuity along with a network of professionals to help you reach your goals.
At Urban Ability we offer several services to our clients to help achieve their goals. Taking into consideration the varied spectrum of a consumers physical and mental abilities, we aspire to create built environments that are accessible for all. Whether retrofitting your current home or renovating a newly purchased home, you can rest assured with our 30 years of experience.
The built environment should be designed and built to be used and accessed by all people. As a person's life situation changes, too often it requires a person to drastically change their living situation. Our mission is to keep our clients living comfortably and safely within their own homes.
We will work with you, the homeowner, and local contractors to ensure a you have a stress-free, enjoyable and easy experience. We work closely with a local contractor who specializes in residential retrofitting and renovations. We guarantee your project will flow smoothly from planning to completion while including the accessible features you want.
Designing accessible residential spaces that are tailored to the customers needs.
Supplying and installing specialized accessible features and equipment.
Residential accessibility assessments to identify key areas of success and areas needing improvement.
Perhaps the most common space our clients desire remodeled is the washroom. The washroom is one of the most important spaces within a house and it can also be the biggest causes of slips and falls.
Here we see a well illuminated accessible washroom. Aside from the grab bars, notice the knee clearance below the sink and the hands-free fixtures located within reach of the sink. Also note the colour contrast between the different surfaces, this helps to visually highlight the different surfaces as well as assist in depth perception.
In this tiled washroom we see a simple shower with a large adjustable overhead shower head as well as a handheld shower on a rail. Notice the shower controls and handheld shower head are mounted within reach of the shower bench. Restricting a persons need to reach will help limit the occurrences a person may become unbalanced while in the shower. Note the linear drain against the rear wall of the shower. A linear style drain helps maintain a single angle slope which is more gentle than a conventional compound angle slope. It is important to keep colour contrast between different surfaces to increase depth perception which helps maintain balance and limit slips.
A common myth associated with building accessible features is that they will look institutional and will stick out. In this washroom we see a shower designed with a bench that matches the walls and brushed nickle grab bars which resemble towel bars. There are a large number of accessible fixtures available which when combined with a well designed layout can be functional and blend into the feature.
Cell: 519.829.8811
Email: calebvanesch@urbanability.ca
6991 Wellington Rd. 124
Guelph ON, N1H 6J4