“You’re welcome”. Why inclusive design matters in the built environment

Would you go on a night out if you couldn’t find a toilet? Would you attend a friend’s birthday party if you thought you’d feel unsafe? Would you travel overseas if you couldn’t find an accessible bedroom?

As we look to the future of our cities, one thing is clear: an inclusive approach to design is no longer just a ‘nice to have’. It is an essential element in creating spaces where all people, regardless of ability, background or identity, can fully participate and feel welcome.

The built environment often presents significant challenges to people with disabilities, whether physical or hidden. One in four people in the UK live with a disability and the barriers they face can make even the simplest tasks seem daunting. But visible and invisible disability is just one aspect – our rapidly ageing population, along with growing ethnic diversity and a significant LGBTQIA+ community, all highlight the need as an industry to consciously evaluate how we are creating spaces that are welcoming for all.

Inclusive design aims to remove the barriers that separate and impede, allowing people to go about their everyday lives confidently and independently.

Creating environments that are accessible, adaptable and welcoming brings both social and commercial benefits. For businesses, inclusive spaces can quadruple their customer base, tap into a broader talent pool and address ESG objectives. Buildings that meet higher standards of accessibility and inclusivity are also more resilient – future-proofed for ever-changing regulations and evolving societal expectations.

Just as environmental standards have become a minimum requirement for developments, we anticipate inclusive design will become essential. We have already seen a shift in how occupiers inquire about the accessibility of spaces during leasing due diligence. It is becoming clear that inclusive design is not only good practice; it is good business.

Over the past two years, Grosvenor and The Crown Estate have worked together to create Inclusive Spaces and Places, a report addressing the common knowledge, technical and organisational barriers that prevent the wider adoption of inclusive design.

Through this collaboration, we have also developed practical tools the industry can adopt to bring inclusivity to the forefront, including a design brief for new development and guidance on how to create lived experience panels.

The report makes five recommendations that we and The Crown Estate have committed to:

• Listen to and involve those with lived experience: Understand and engage with those who have lived experience across a range of characteristics.
• Measure and understand the level of accessibility for existing buildings and spaces to inform key interventions.
• Communicate: Provide better information on the accessibility of existing buildings and spaces so people can feel more confident using them.
• Exceed: Go beyond existing building regulations through introducing an inclusive design brief in collaboration with people with lived experience to create a higher inclusive design standard.
• Collaborate: Work closely with partners to ensure accessibility and inclusive design are considered for both new developments and existing buildings.

We have already put this approach into action. Our South Molton development project (pictured) recently benefited from an inclusive design panel session that helped shape our plans for the development’s public realm, based on lived experience feedback.

We have also seen significant success with the roll out of Sociability, an app providing accessibility information, which now covers circa 300 venues in our portfolio. The fact it was accessed by more than 8,000 people in the first five weeks in operation at Liverpool ONE demonstrates its value to people and occupiers.

Changing our mindset requires collective effort. To create welcoming spaces, we must collaborate across the sector – developers, architects, property managers and occupiers alike. Our new industry working group has 14 members, including major landowners, developers and public sector organisations.

Our commitment to measuring accessibility, listening to lived experience and exceeding minimum requirements is not just about improving individual buildings. It is about setting a higher standard for the industry as a whole and we are proud to be playing a leading role in shaping a more inclusive future.