Picture of Brass in Pocket (I’m Special) single by Pretenders with IHN logo overlaid.
As an inclusive design professional I often speak at conferences and give talks to architects and designers. In February I gave a talk titled ‘Brass in Pocket’ about why hotels need to be much more inclusive at the Colliers International and Howard Kennedy conference in London. The event was themed on eighties pop hits, hence its name ‘Smooth Operator: Keeping Hotels Profitable Time After Time’. The focus was on the finances and profitability of hotels so my talk explained about the purple pound as well as accessibility and inclusion and the work of the Inclusive Hotels Network.
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Publica invited Withernay Projects to get them up to speed on the latest guidance and regulations about access and inclusion. Unfortunately examples of poor practice are still much more common than good practice, and one of the questions during Publica’s was whether there were any examples of really good public realm design. The example that always come to mind first in Granary Square and the route to it from King’s Cross St. Pancras, evidenced by the number of visibly disabled people there every time I visit. There are even two Changing Places facilities there! (The area isn’t perfect, but it’s better than most).
Attending conferences and lectures is one way of ensuring CPD is up to date. Online courses are also available, such as the Design Council’s Inclusive Environments CPD. It took me much longer than the hour that was advised at the start, mainly because I had to keep going back to find other things to click on / watch to complete each stage. The Inclusive Environments Hub is also well worth looking at: it’s a searchable database of guidance, standards and regulations for every aspect of accessible and inclusive design.