One of the first successes has been the co-production work on the Hammersmith Civic Campus project, a huge public project, which includes refurbishment of the town hall and the development of new housing and a cinema.
A team of six Disabled residents (DRT) has worked with council officers from planning, the architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Proudlock Associates, which is a Disabled person led access consultancy.
This way of working ensured a high level of inclusive design throughout the process, something both residents and the architects have described as a pioneering way to work and not the usual way that things are done.
The planning application was agreed in February 2019 and Disabled residents continue be part of the team all the way through. The work has been shortlisted for a National Planning Award 2020.
Barriers faced by Disabled people in using buildings and open spaces were raised early before plans were submitted rather than left to detailed design at a later stage. This way of working together allowed robust solutions to be found early as well as saving time and money for the developer. This is most unusual and should be adopted in all major development projects.” – Jane Wilmot, Co-chair Disabled Residents Team
- Co-chair is a Disabled resident and residents are paid for their work.
- Residents were part of the team and not just seen as ‘service users’ - this built respectful working relationships.
- Disabled residents helped identify barriers to working together as a team and to find solutions to remove them.
- Residents involved nearly all the way through.
- Early practical difficulties were resolved, for example meeting each other's access needs.
- Everyone took part in Disability equality training team building workshop, learning together.
- The architects say this way of working has saved time and money in the long term.