Universal design in architectural firms' business models

In the business SPD project 'Coordinating Inclusive Future Public Spaces in Architecture', Marcus Tang Merit has studied how people with disabilities experience accessibility can be factored into architects' work processes. It has to position the architecture firm more strongly in the negotiation with partners and clients, and ultimately it's about making inclusion a selling point, and thinking it in from the first line.

The thesis was based on architects' internal and external collaboration processes, with a special focus on how people with disabilities relate to the spatial experiences of people with disabilities in the design processes. The aim was to dress the architects so that they can argue for universal design solutions to collaborators.

Based on the thesis, Marcus has prepared an inclusion guide that is usefully used as a red line in the work on inclusion during a project, or as a reference book for some of the themes and issues that may arise in the work on inclusion and accessibility.

Marcus worked with Gottlieb Paludan Architects on the project, which was anchored at the Department of Building Art and Design at the Royal Academy, and financed by the Bevica Foundation as well as Innovation Fund Denmark. After completing his thesis, Marcus continues as a member of the Bevica Foundation's research network.

→ Read more about the scientist behind Universal Design Hub

Inclusion Guide

This guide is a brief introduction to a number of arguments and issues relating to Gottlieb Paludan Architects' work on inclusion, accessibility, and other related topics.

→ Read the inclusion guide here