Ed Roberts Campus: Building confidence from the ground up

Ed Roberts campus is the first building of its kind in the nation. Located at a fully accessible transit hub, the Ed Roberts Campus is a national and international model dedicated to disability rights and universal access. “This building expresses the idea that good design is a fundamental justice issue; everyone deserves a dignified space to work and inspiring place to let them work” stated William Leddi, FAIA.

It was designed thinking on people with different abilities and how people with, different and sometimes, conflicting needs will use the space. They didn’t want to create barriers; they wanted people to come in and out the building without negotiating. For example, the floor has different textures to guide blind people to the front door and the textures do not create a barrier for wheelchair users.

Another concern was to avoid the hospital look and they created a building, usable for a wide range of people and also beautiful and functional. The idea is to take Universal Design to the same level as green design is right now. Architects and designers shouldn’t see these buildings as restraint but as an opportunity to be creative Ed Roberts campus is now an icon for the disability community worldwide Universal Design and Sustainable Design, created a space that adapts to people’s necessities instead of people adapt to the built environment, and that’s how it should be.