Before:
As we visited before, the entrance to my brownstone is not accessible to those in wheelchairs or with limited mobility. The doors are also narrow and heavy, but the difficulty in changing the facade lie in that it is all original architecture and is actually part of a strip of historic landmark buildings in Harlem. The need to preserve the aesthetic and history are at odds with fair and equitable accessibility.
After Ideas:
Idea #1:
The lift shown above may be added on to an existing staircase, with the use of a metal railing on one side. The lift folds down for minimal reach when not in use. It also can be made to blend in with minimal detraction from aesthetic with the use of similar materials, colors, and of course, additional wooden elements and floral boxes don't hurt to hide the extraneous wiring and mechanisms. The heavy doors themselves can be updated to have automatic opening mechanisms, as evidenced by the heavy old doors turned automatic entrances at Teachers College.
Idea #2:
The second idea is not to retrofit the staircase itself, but add a lift from the sidewalk level that may be built on from outside the garden apartment and will open and have access to each of the three levels of the apartment building. This would require a lot of construction and retro-fitting of the building itself. The lift shown above has a clean, minimalist look and does not interfere or interrupt the design of the brownstone, especially when hidden from the frontal view of the building. It can be built in the area that is now a small courtyard that only houses the trash and recycling bins.
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