Members of Bermuda’s top architectural firm pushed yesterday for the implementation of more accessible designs in buildings across the island.

Vanessa Bean and Susan Behrens, senior members of OBM International, said that adjustments for those with different needs should be looked at as a “universal design”.

Ms Bean, an interior designer, said the design should be “flexible and accessible to everyone” — and talked about as such.

She added: “We’re limited to space, but I think that there needs to be a higher push in recognising the responsibility we all have to make that shift.”

Ms Bean and Ms Behrens spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Hamilton Rotary Club at the Coco Reefs Hotel in Paget.

The pair have been frequently commissioned to modify buildings to make them more accessible for clients.

Ms Bean said that the biggest challenge with redesigning a building was space, and that she had to work with what was available.

She admitted: “You’re likely losing a toilet, but gain an accessible space.

“That’s a conversation we often have with our clients locally — yes, you’re losing one thing, but you’re gaining so much more.

“So it’s just a matter of educating everyone that there’s benefit.”

Ms Bean said that a necessary change was the removal of stairs, particularly around Hamilton.

She explained that many people, whether they had mobility problems or were simply using a stroller, could not go into many buildings because they lacked ramps.

Ms Bean said: “There are real-time solutions that we can all be doing. Imagine if Reid Street was all-accessible.

“There is space to do it if it’s properly thought out and we are willing to sacrifice something.”

In the past, Ms Bean and Ms Behrens have been contracted to redesign buildings to make them more accessible to all.

Their projects have included Windreach, a therapeutic charity for those with mental and physical challenges, and several buildings around Hamilton.

Ms Bean said that universal design made access to buildings easier for those with different physical and mental capabilities.

She said that classic examples were ramps in place of stairs and grab bars in restrooms.

However, Ms Bean said that other forms of universal design included wayfinding, which involved using signals for pathways, or automatic doors.

She said that common examples of wayfinding were colour-coded building maps for those who struggled with reading, or even the use of flowers for people to travel a path by scent.

Ms Behrens said that universal design regulations were supposed to come into effect in Bermuda in 1998, but were not enforced until much later.

She said that buildings in Hamilton now had to have a certain standard of accessibility.

Ms Behrens added that it was important to remember that everyone will need these standards at some point in their lives.

She said: “We’re all in the same boat, so it’s our collective responsibility to look out for each other and do what we can to make Bermuda’s sometimes challenging environment as kinder and gentler and friendlier and more inclusive to all.”