BCA moves to further improve workplace accessibility in CBD

SINGAPORE — More buildings in the Central Business District (CBD) area will be modified to make workplaces more accessible to people with various mobility needs.

Under new initiatives announced by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) yesterday, owners of existing commercial buildings in the area will be offered incentives to meet the minimum barrier-free accessibility requirements, such as installing ramps and accessible toilets, or even go a step further to include wider passageways and hearing enhancement systems at information counters or auditoriums for people with hearing aids.

Speaking to the media at the launch of the first Singapore Universal Design Week yesterday (Nov 5), BCA chief executive officer John Keung said: “Governing all these changes is our belief that going forward, if we want to build an inclusive society in Singapore, our built environment must be inclusive.”

Through its initial focus on Orchard Road, the BCA has already made significant improvements to the shopping district, with almost nine in 10 buildings installed with basic barrier-free accessibility features, said Dr Keung.

The BCA will now be turning its focus to older buildings in the CBD area, where 70 out of 150 buildings still lack basic accessibility features.

To encourage more building owners to implement basic accessibility features in their buildings, the BCA introduced a S$40 million Accessibility Fund in 2007 to co-pay up to 80 per cent of construction costs.

With about S$9.8 million disbursed so far and another S$2.6 million committed to ongoing projects, the BCA noted that the take-up rate has been slow as building owners face structural constraints or are wary of disruption to business.

Senior architectural designer and wheelchair-bound Richard Kuppusamy from architecture firm WOHA

noted that while Singapore had made progress, attitude change remains the biggest barrier.

He said businesses and building owners need to recognise the value of Universal Design, a concept that takes into consideration the physical, social and psychological needs of all age groups and people of different abilities. “There are still people who are effectively owning public buildings — hotels, shopping malls — and because they are old buildings, use that as an excuse not to go one step further to improve them,” said the 37-year-old, who moved back to Singapore after living in the United Kingdom for 16 years.

Mr Kuppusamy added that bad design could also have an impact on employment opportunities for people with disabilities. “It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how skilled you are. If you can’t get into the building, you won’t get that job,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BCA, in collaboration with the National Parks Board, will also be expanding its Universal Design Mark Certification Scheme — originally for buildings — to parks and public spaces. The design process, user-friendly features, operations and maintenance of these places, among other things, will be taken into consideration before they are awarded the BCA Universal Design Mark for Parks and Public Spaces.