Homes for today & tomorrow.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
Date:
1961
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Homes for today & tomorrow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    42 45 44 45 46 47 48 manceuvring of the pram indoors, so that it can be used as a cot during the day if need be. Judging by the efforts which many mothers will make to get the pram up the stairway to the flat even when there is a ground floor store, pram space indoors seems to be called for even in blocks of flats with no lift. Bathrooms Some plans do little more than accommodate the bath and the other fittings, and give insufficient space for people to dry themselves and to bath a baby conveniently and without danger. The bathroom in the family home should always provide sufficient space for these purposes. W.Cs. In two- or three-storey houses, a second W.C., with one of them on the entrance floor, is preferred whatever the size of family. But the desirable is not always possible, and our conclusions on the minimum satisfactory scale of provision are as follows: 3 person families 1 W.C., which may be combined with the bathroom 4 person families and 5 person families 1 W.C., separate from bathroom in one-level dwellings 5 person and larger families in 2 or 3 storey houses or in two-level maison- ettes 6 person and larger families in one-level dwellings 1 W.C. combined with bathroom and 1 W.C. separate We received strong medical evidence about the importance of providing facilities immediately adjacent to the W.C. for washing the hands. The case for such facilities is the high incidence of gastro-intestinal infection, that is to say food poisoning and dysentery; the frequency with which these infections spread within the same family; and the fact that the major cause of the spread is lack of adequate hand-washing facilities. Without such facilities it is certainly impossible to train children in the importance of hand-washing, and we therefore think that, except where a W.C. adjoins a bathroom, a wash basin should be provided in the compartment. It should be unnecessary to say so, but it is important to adhere to the principle that, except in bed-sitting room and one bedroom flats, there should be access from all bedrooms to a W.C. without passing through any other room. Floor space requirements Details of the floor space requirements which we recommend for 3, 4, 5 and 6 person families are given in Section IV of this chapter. B HOMES FOR MARRIED COUPLES Accommodation suited to a married couple will need to provide a living area, a kitchen, a double bedroom, a combined bathroom and W.C. The living area must accommodate activities ranging from entertaining, watching television, or sewing and mending and hobbies, to writing letters, reading and relaxing. Space must be provided for two easy chairs, I2