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Spring 2011

Ed Roberts Campus Becomes Mecca for Disability Community

In addition to creating an underground portal to the Ed Roberts Campus at Berkeley’s Ashby station, BART erected a welcoming bus shelter at the street level that echoes the building’s curvy lines. (Photo: Ron Finger/FMG Architects)

Wood slats along the building’s exterior help it fit into the neighborhood. (Photo: Tim Griffith)

The striking spiral ramp is the most obvious universal design feature. (Photo: Karl Nielsen)

All comers feel at home in the building’s airy atrium lobby. (Photo: Tim Griffith)

“It’s really a wonderful example of how when we work together, we can accomplish much for innovation, for civil rights, for equality and for the common good.”
— Congresswoman Barbara Lee speaking at the opening celebration (Photo: Karl Nielsen)

Berkeley Facility Takes Universal Design and Transit-Oriented Development to New Levels

At MTC, we know a good idea when we see one. So when a group of community leaders came to the agency in the mid-1990s with a proposal for an innovative building at Berkeley’s Ashby BART station to bring under one roof a number of organizations serving the disability community, MTC embraced the concept. Now, after more than a dozen years of planning and fundraising, and 18 months of construction, the Ed Roberts Campus is open for business.

If the 1,000 or so people who gathered in early April to celebrate the opening are any indication, the facility is an instant hit with the disability community.

Named for a prominent and pioneering Bay Area disability activist, the facility gathers under one roof a dozen organizations and agencies involved in education, services, policy and advocacy for the disability community (see list).

A well-marked underground portal leads directly from the ticketing level of the BART station to the basement level of the campus. The connection allows for seamless access on the part of wheelchair users and other disabled residents, who are often transit-dependent.

MTC provided $100,000 in planning grants early on from its Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) Program to get the project off the ground. MTC eventually directly provided or helped secure $17 million for the $47 million project from local, state and federal transportation sources — the largest contribution from a single funder. Additional support came from other federal sources, local agencies, the city of Berkeley, foundations, corporations and individuals.

The building exemplifies the spirit of its sponsoring organizations by being a model of universal design — an approach to making products and environments as usable as possible by as many people as possible, regardless of age or ability. “I think this is the first time that universal design has happened at this level, from the ground up,” said Dmitri Belser, executive director of the Center for Accessible Technology and president of the Ed Roberts Campus.

Upon entering the low-rise building, visitors are struck by the originality and centrality of the ramp that gently spirals from the first floor to the second.

“The ramp is designed to be both a practical element for people in wheelchairs, but also a symbolic gesture that is intended to speak to the idea of universal design, that welcomes everyone,” said architect Bill Leddy of Leddy Maytum Stacy of San Francisco.

Indeed, at the opening event, both able-bodied and wheelchair-bound visitors enjoyed the leisurely stroll and ride along the sinuous pathway.

The 85,000-square-foot building also incorporates a number of smaller accommodations for disabled clients and staff. For instance, the fountain at the north end of the atrium lobby serves as an acoustical beacon helping to orient vision-impaired visitors. A cement floor provides easy rolling for wheelchair users, while a cloth ceiling helps to soften noise emanating from that hard floor — thereby aiding hearing-impaired users.

“A lot of this is just about creating an environment that is gracious and allows people the ability to live and work with dignity,” Leddy said.
— Brenda Kahn

Transactions Spring 2011 Issue: Contents