A pivotal moment for access and inclusion in real estate

This month saw a pivotal moment of industry change regarding accessibility of the built environment, and an ambitious vision for a more inclusive future.

The Crown Estate and Grosvenor (two of the largest landlords in the UK), in association with Motionspot and other leading property figures and organisations, united to launch the Inclusive Spaces and Places initiative.

This ground-breaking initiative addresses the urgent need for more inclusive, accessible spaces, benefiting millions of people across the UK. The Inclusive Design Brief highlights the challenges, opportunities, and practical recommendations for creating environments that cater to all, including open-source tools that organisations can use to drive positive change.

“At some point in life everyone will be affected by disability; whether it is you, your friends or family. People that aren’t yet affected don’t realise how badly places are designed.” Lived experience panel member

Motionspot supported The Crown Estate and Grosvenor to go above and beyond minimum access standards and aim to make spaces inclusive for everyone, regardless of any protected characteristic including disability, age, faith, gender, and ethnicity, and the intersections between them. Not only is this the right thing to do, it also makes strong commercial sense.

"43% of disabled consumers said they have abandoned an in-person shop recently due to the barriers they experienced." Business Disability Forum, 2022

Inclusive design commitments

As part of this change, The Crown Estate and Grosvenor committed to five inclusive design actions including:

• Listening to and involving those with lived experience.
• Measuring and understanding the level of accessibility of our buildings and spaces to inform key interventions.
• Communicating better information on the accessibility of our buildings.
• Going beyond building regulations to create a higher inclusive design standard.
• Collaborating to ensure inclusive design is considered for new developments and existing buildings.

In addition to the report, an Accessible and Inclusive Places Industry Group has been established, a collaborative effort to champion accessibility across the sector.

Open source tools have also been made available to support other businesses to implement genuine and practical change. Explore the full report and tools here.

"This is an important step in delivering on our commitments to support community wellbeing and business growth, which will help our buildings and spaces become more welcoming and successful long term." Amelia Bright, Executive Director of London Estate, Grosvenor

By launching a range of tools that businesses can implement within their own design remits, we are calling on the property industry to work together and create inclusive, welcoming spaces for all. This is a process that takes time, but with collective action and clear commitments, it is a true step in the right direction." Simon Harding-Roots, Managing Director for London at The Crown Estate

A catalyst for change

As two of the most influential landlords in the UK, these new commitments will be a catalyst for wider industry change that will raise the standard of inclusive design across real estate and encourage other landlords and developers to embed inclusive design.

“In years to come I hope the launch of The Crown Estate and Grosvenor inclusive design spaces and places initiative is seen as the catalyst for one of those ‘industry change moments’.

This is the culmination of two years hard work by the Motionspot team alongside other incredible advocates, experts, and people with lived experience to get to this pivotal moment of industry unity.

Thanks to an ambitious vision from the outset, close collaboration with a number of industry partners and two years of hard work, this toolkit has been developed to demonstrate how inclusive design can create welcoming, accessible, equitable and inclusive buildings and spaces for everyone.

The inclusive design brief sets out how to raise the bar of inclusivity across real estate and gives clear direction to incorporate inclusive principles at the start of new build, retrofit and refurbishment projects. The brief also helps to bust the myth that listed properties can’t be made more inclusive through thoughtful design modifications that respect the fabric of historic buildings whilst also making them more accessible for all users.

This is just a starting point, and we hope it will encourage other landlords and developers to adopt and embed inclusive design principles in all their projects. By sharing experiences and learnings along the way, we hope it will continue to raise the bar and support the design of a more accessible and inclusive built environment for everyone.” Ed Warner MBE, Motionspot CEO and Co-Founder

Industry unity

The event was launched with members from across the real estate industry and further. With keynote from Ade Adepitan, and panellists including Amanprit Arnold, Daisy Narayanan MBE, and Motionspot's Ed Warner MBE.

Over 100 industry professionals from across the real estate sector attended. There was a palpable sense of change in the room, with an enthusiastic recognition of the importance of access and inclusion in the built environment and the cross-sector solidarity required to bring it about.

Ade neatly summarised: if the ancient Parthenon, with substantial design challenges and listed status, can be retrofitted to be accessible, then why can’t every building and space?

What's next for inclusion in the built environment?

The toolkit is a starting point for any built environment professional, to embed inclusive design into design, construction, and maintenance of the built environment.

Alongside the Inclusive Design Overlay, it acts as a set of questions to ask internally at all stages of any new or refurbishment project. If you would like to discuss anything contained in this new Inclusive Design Brief, or how your business can do similar, contact Motionspot.