User Consultation and the Historic Royal Palaces Access Forum Workshop

Date to be confirmed, 10.00-12.00, cost £40.00 with a 25 per cent discount for voluntary organisations, the Access Lab, London

The design and development of the built environment occurs through a wide range of specialist tasks, dominated by professionals who rarely seek the views of disabled people. When disabled people are consulted, there views are often included as an after thought rather than being an integral part of the design process. However, the inclusive design agenda is increasingly calling for formal, transparent user-consultation.

An example of a project where the user consultation process has worked particularly well is the recent refurbishment of Kew Palace. Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the charity that looks after Kew Palace, directly employed a range of people from local disability and community groups to form the Kew Palace Disability Access Forum.

This workshop will explore the wider issues relating to creating a successful user consultation process with the Kew Palace refurbishment as a model and case study. It will be lead by Jo Thwaites, Kew Project Sponsor and Client Representative, Amy Elias, Chair of the Historic Royal Palaces Access Forum