Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of house designs for the elderly and disabled. We devised a method for characterizing the plans of new houses and compared examples of new houses for the disabled and ordinary non-adapted houses in the Hokkaido region of Japan. We examined 65 houses for the disabled and 70 ordinary non-adapted houses. The results showed that the proportion of corridor type designs, in which there are two lines of flow in the bedroom, was significantly more in the houses for the disabled. In addition, more classifications were needed to categorize the houses for the disabled, some of which contained a toilet and/or bathroom for exclusive use by the disabled member of the household.
