Stylish, Multi-Generational Accessibility, Thanks to AKW
Creating a multi-generational home that meets the needs of all its members can be difficult, particularly when it comes to the bathroom. This was the challenge faced by one Leicester-based family. Working with AKW, one of the UK’s leading providers of accessibility solutions, they now have a bathroom space that not only works for all the generations, but looks stylish and modern too.
A cost-effective solution was needed by Maroot Patel and his family to make their home more accessible for his mother-in-law. He comments: “After losing my father-in-law, we grew increasingly worried about my mother-in-law living alone, especially with her decreasing mobility. She began spending a greater amount of time at ours and that meant making our home more accessible to her. We did this by adding a chair lift to help her navigate the stairs, however the big challenge for us was the bathroom, as she couldn’t use the shower that was situated over the bath.”
The decision was made to take out the bath from the upstairs bathroom and put in a low-level access showering solution. The need was to make the space more accessible, without it looking institutional, however the bathroom had only recently been refurbished, so the solution had to be in keeping with the home’s modern décor, whilst meeting the needs of the extended family. To achieve this, Maroot approached AKW for advice on making the transition from a bath to a low-level access shower area.
AKW put the family in touch with Age Care Bathrooms, who guided them through the process of choosing the right AKW solution for their needs. Sam Davies, Director at Age Care Bathrooms comments: “As the family’s bathroom had only been updated a few years before, they were keen to keep as much of it as possible. So, we recommended leaving the sanitaryware in situ and replacing the bath with a full-length low level access shower tray, rain head shower, Scandinavian style shower seat and sleek grab rails. Also, as the tiles only went down as far as the bath, we suggested the use of full-length wall panels that fitted the existing bathroom’s aesthetic, so that no re-tiling was needed.”
The removal of the bath and the fitting of the low-level access shower took two days in total, and Age Care Bathrooms used AKW Origins Wall Panels to cover over the existing partially tiled areas. Thanks to the wall panels being a structural material, the shower seat and grab rails could be fitted securely to them, without impacting weight loading. An AKW Onyx shower tray was then installed on top of the existing tiled floor, with only a 26mm step into the shower area. A stylish, chrome-finish AKW Larenco Sliding Door Enclosure was added along the full length of the shower tray and accompanied by an AKW Arka Cool Touch mixer shower with rain head shower. The family also chose a Scandinavian style AKW 4000 series fold-up wooden slatted seat with support legs and AKW Onyx chrome and white grab rails.
The end result is a stylish yet functional low-level access shower space in the upstairs bathroom that meets the needs of this multi-generational family. Maroot concludes: “The Age Care installer did a great job fitting the new shower area out and he did it with minimal disruption to us as a family. We love the way the AKW products fit so well into our existing bathroom, and the great thing is that if needed in the future, the shower tray can have a small wheelchair ramp added, as it is strong enough to accommodate a wheelchair and carer. We now have a bathroom that works for everyone in the family.”
With more and more people looking at making their homes accessible for multi-generational families, the need to combine functionality and style is on the increase. Thanks to AKW and products such as its Onyx range, it is now possible to combine style, reliability, and accessibility both quickly and affordably.