At Latika, acceptance and accessibility have formed the bedrock of our work since we got started three decades ago. So when our Executive Director, Jo Chopra, was invited to speak at the Doon Library and Resource Center on ‘Architecture, Access, Acceptance’ on 7 March, it was on a subject close to her heart, particularly now that we’re close to completing a building of our own.
The process of construction has been an eye-opener in more ways that we’d ever have imagined. We’ve spent hours in conversation with architects and accessibility experts. Among our discoveries, as non-architects, has been India’s National Building Code, with its detailed specs for every nook, corner and scenario that might emerge in a built-up space.
In her talk at the Doon Library, Jo spoke about how our construction specs comply with the letter and spirit of both the National Building Code and the principles of universal design. “We follow (it). Scrupulously. And instead of limiting us, it’s made us more creative,” she said.
“The code is just a starting point. Accessibility comes from being sensitive – listening to people’s needs and finding solutions to their struggles,” commented Architect S.K. Das, an old friend of Latika. And that’s exactly what we do.
Our new campus will set a national benchmark for accessibility: purpose-built with wide doorways and corridors, gentle ramps, earthquake-safe, energy-efficient, lights you can dim or brighten depending on sensory needs, fans that cool noiselessly, doors you can open with your elbows, Braille signs for our blind friends, a pod for breastfeeding moms, toilets where adults can be changed in dignity and comfort – we’re out to prove that solutions exist and it’s possible to construct spaces that include everyone.
We’re having these conversations to share that accessibility isn’t just about compliance – it’s about recognizing, anticipating and respecting everyone’s needs. It takes time, effort, forethought and yes, money but it’s money well spent, all things considered, and in the long haul.
And we’re walking to talk alongside — a team of labourers from Parag taking pride in the way they lay every brick (our brickwork is a piece of art in itself!), Ashish Rangari, Senior Manager, Projects, transferred onsite by Project Management at Cushman and Wakefield, keeping a watchful eye to ensure that everything conforms with everything it’s meant to, our accessibility consultant Subhash Vashisht, to say nothing of an Executive Director who’s been seen taking a literal ruler to the stairs to make sure that each one is the height it’s meant to be, to the milimetre, we’re leaving no stone unturned.
At our periodic ‘building summits’ every couple of months – the latest one in March this year and the one just before in November last year – we have everyone involved in overseeing construction, on- and offsite, including architects, consultants and Project Heads flying in from Delhi and Gurgaon, to make sure that everything conforms to code and the principles of universal design.
Read Jo’s article on universal design and why this matters here.
