Building A Kind City for Those with Autism

What does it mean for the built environment to be kind? It can simply be, in layman’s terms, less scary and more friendly. Even among the neurotypical population, a long white corridor of identical doors can spark confusion and anxiety to an individual. A room without windows, lit only by overhead fluorescent lights, becomes intolerable to be in after a while.

Autism represents a whole spectrum of symptoms and conditions and it can be challenging to put a finger on what exactly makes a design ‘friendlier’. For one, we can make the environment friendlier to the autistic person’s sensory processing. While this is not part of the diagnostic criteria, it is observed that many people with autism process sensory information quite differently from the main population and tend to be over- or under-sensitive to external stimuli, such as light, sound, temperature, and textures.

When designing the New York-Presbyterian Hospital Center for Autism & the Developing Brain in 2013, the team from daSILVA Architects had to transform an old gymnasium to a child- and autism-friendly facility. One of the things they tackled was the acoustics. Besides fitting out each room with sound dampening panels and flooring, the team even moved all of the building’s air conditioners and boilers to another part of the building to further reduce the amount of sound.

Secondly, we can also make the environment friendlier for self-regulation. Individuals with autism are known to need space and time to calm down and ‘reset’ when they have trouble regulating their emotions or when the environment is overstimulating. Even in a sensory-friendly world where lights do not flicker, tyres do not squeak, and new T-shirts do not come with a scratchy tag, there are other things that cannot be controlled and emotions that can go into disarray. What the environment can offer in this case, is a safe place for the person to ‘reset’.

At Kindle Garden, touted as Singapore’s first inclusive preschool for children of all abilities, the environment is designed with open spaces for flexible classroom configurations and small cosy nooks for quiet moments. Even in mainstream classrooms, having a corner sectioned off for quiet reading can be helpful for a student who needs some time away from the main activity of the classroom. Perhaps we can consider how this can be applied to more places.

The design of The Caterpillar’s Cove (pictured above and below), a preschool located within a research institute, by Lekker Architects, was based on the concept of the environment being the “third teacher”, where learning environments are able to draw attention, evoke curiosity, and encourage communication. Columns have been reimagined as trees, banked steps provide ample space for tumbling around, and the observation room for trainee teachers is set as the garden shed in this farmyard-themed space.