Ed Warner still remembers the words of his school friend James Taylor after Taylor was paralyzed in a diving accident in 2005: “Every morning I wake up and I’m reminded of my condition because of the products around me.”

Convinced that there had to be something better than the soulless white plastic equipment that crowded Taylor’s South London home to ostensibly give him a measure of independence, the two eventually combined their sales and marketing (Warner) and finance (Taylor) expertise to create the accessible design firm Motionspot in 2012. Since then, the company has become a leader in Britain in the design of accessible products and inclusive spaces. But along the way, one area cried out for particular attention, leading Warner to launch Fine & Able, a division within Motionspot that focuses on home bathrooms.

Early on, as Warner explains, many of the bathroom fixtures the firm specified were only incidentally “accessible,” not purposely designed that way. But as the business grew, so did the challenge of sourcing a variety of decent, well-designed adaptive products. So the duo began collaborating with some of the world’s largest manufacturers to create their own line of inclusive fittings meant to be as attractive as they are functional.

We caught up with Warner, who was named the U.K.’s disability and access ambassador for the built environment in 2019, to discuss why accessibility matters and what still needs to change.

For anyone aging in place or living with a disability, adaptability and accessibility are vital across the entire home. Why does Fine & Able focus on bathrooms?

The bathroom is where people want the greatest independence, where the worst accidents in the home tend to occur, and where the biggest design crimes tend to happen. It’s the hardest area of the home to get right, requiring an awful lot of work to deliver a space we’re proud of and the customer is happy with. The key is making it aspirational—proving that you can have a bathroom for life without compromising on aesthetics.

What are the biggest “design crimes” in a typical accessible bathroom?

White plastic grab rails, medical-looking shower seats, hospital-style vinyl flooring, and an overall finish that looks and feels institutional.

So how do you make a beautiful bathroom that’s also accessible?

There are many details that can make a big difference, from color contrast and lighting that makes things easier to see to taps that can be operated by someone with limited dexterity. But the main elements are level-access showers, space to move freely to use and reach everything whether you’re seated or standing, something to hold for support, and a space that’s easy to clean and maintain.

Our bathrooms have subtle design features that work for everybody—such as a riser rail that holds the showerhead in place but also doubles as a grab bar. Then there’s digital shower technology, where you can set the water temperature from your smartphone before getting in. That’s beneficial for everybody.

What are some other technologies we should know about?

We’re seeing a real rise in wash-and-dry toilets, which enable many disabled people to use the toilet independently. Then there’s getting the lighting levels right. For example, for an older person who needs to use the bathroom a couple of times a night, a sensor can shine a low level of light that helps with navigation.

Most of us are familiar with curbless showers and the need for space if you use a wheelchair, but what are some common misconceptions about what makes a bathroom accessible?

The most common is around the concept of a wet room. People think wet rooms are spaces where water goes all over, but when we talk about wet rooms, we’re really talking about safe, level-access shower floors that minimize potential slips or trips.

Another misconception is that you need vinyl flooring in a wet room. There’s beautiful porcelain floor tile that provides the same slip resistance as vinyl.

Also, lots of people believe a shower seat needs fixed legs going down into the floor. But as long as the construction behind the wall is sufficient, a mounted seat can support up to 150 kilos [approximately 330 pounds].

You’ve said before that you design not just for the body, but also for the mind. Conditions like dementia can have a profound effect on how people navigate the world. How does that change the way you design bathrooms?

A lot of our clients ask us for bathrooms that are suitable for family members who have early-onset or even later-stage dementia. It can be difficult for someone with dementia to determine, for example, where the floor ends and the wall starts. So helpful things to think about include level-access showers and contrasting colors to help with navigation.

Acoustics are also important. It seems like a simple thing, but the decibel level of exhaust fans can be very distracting and confusing. Minimizing reflections is another good idea, so think about installing matte instead of gloss tiles.

For people who aren’t currently experiencing a disability or age-related decline in physical or cognitive functioning, why think about “future-proofing” a home?

Many people don’t want to move again or spend money more than once, so it comes back to the importance of offering specialist advice early on. We help clients understand some of the challenges they may face in the home in 5 or 10 years, but we do it gently, because no one wants to admit what they’re going to be like when they’re older.

The design world has come a long way toward recognizing the value of universally designed spaces in the decade since you founded Motionspot, but are we there yet?

We’re still at a really early stage in terms of what’s possible. The more companies can embrace accessible and inclusive design, the more manufacturers can improve their product design, and the more they can involve disabled and older people in the design process, the better.

My vision is that accessible and inclusive design will just become part of the mainstream. It sounds odd as a business owner to say this, but in an ideal world, there wouldn’t be a need for Fine & Able, because it’d just be embedded in everything we do.

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