BCA will soon roll out the new Universal Design Mark Certification for “Parks and Public Spaces”.
This new category, which has been developed in collaboration with National Parks Board, will help recognise and evaluate implementation of Universal Design practices in parks and outdoor spaces.
Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan announced this in his speech at the official opening of Singapore Universal Design Week on 5 November.
BCA introduced the Universal Design Mark Certification Scheme in 2012 to encourage building owners to incorporate Universal Design in their buildings, and 57 buildings has been certified so far.
Mr Lee added, “BCA has also shared with me that it would be focusing its energies to get building owners of existing commercial buildings, especially those in the CBD, to put in place features such as ramps, lifts, and accessible toilets.”
BCA will also encourage them to widen passageways, install easier to open door handles, or put in place hearing enhancement systems for persons with hearing aids. “These enhancements to the buildings would support the employability of older Singaporeans and persons with disabilities,” Mr Lee said.
Over the years, the BCA has been promoting user-friendly design concepts and working with industry stakeholders to implement Universal Design features in their projects.
BCA CEO John Keung said in his speech, “Some of our professionals and developers have already embraced universal design and take it as the starting point in the design of their projects. However, we need more of our industry stakeholders to come on board.”
The inaugural Singapore Universal Design Week ran from 5 to 9 November.
Image source: BCA
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories emailmuneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
