The doorknob is dead in Vancouver.
Well, maybe dead is too strong a word, but it's certainly on its deathbed after the city legislated it out of existence.
Vancouver's new Building By-law, which passed unanimously at a Sept. 25 council meeting, states that all doors and faucets in new buildings be equipped with lever handles instead of knobs.
The Vancouver Sun has since published a eulogy for the doorknob that suggested similar changes could soon come to provincial and national building codes.
That story triggered a flood of media requests to City Hall and Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs wants to make one thing clear.
"If you want a story that says 'wacky city requires all doorknobs to be replaced', that story is false," he told The Huffington Post B.C.
But what exactly does the city have against a mechanism that has ushered people into buildings for centuries?
A lack of accessibility, for one thing. People with arthritis or disabilities have difficulty turning knobs, and levers simply make it easier for them to open doors, Meggs said.
"It's been treated as a sort of new level of red tape but I see it actually expanding freedom for people to move around and be safe in the city," he said.
The city's attention to accessibility flows out of a concept known as universal design, in which an environment is built in a way that is open to everyone, the Sun reported.
The doorknob ban and its underlying concept have drawn enormous attention online, with Salt Lake Tribune reporter Jim Dalrymple saying, "I visited Vancouver earlier this year and found that its progressive design initiatives had actually created a wonderfully pleasant city; perhaps sometime we’ll look back at this decision with similar admiration."
Yahoo! reporter Steve Mertl asked whether universal design could mean that stairs would be replaced with ramps or elevators.
He also suggested new regulations around kitchen cabinets: "Those top shelves are hard to reach if you're a creaky old boomer or just vertically challenged. Why not require all cabinets to be no higher than eye level?"
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Amazing Renovations
Before(01 of12)
Open Image ModalMANHATTAN ENTRANCE HALL (credit:Billy Cunningham)
After(02 of12)
Open Image ModalA Manhattan entrance hall is given a makeover by designers Thomas Britt and Peter Napolitano. Matching mirrors, lamps, vases, and consoles march down the hall, directing visitors to the living room, where a tall bookcase punctuates the vista with rows of warm russet-hued bindings (2004). (credit:Scott Frances)
Before(03 of12)
Open Image ModalHUDSON RIVER GARDEN ROOM (credit:Billy Cunningham)
After(04 of12)
Open Image ModalIn the garden room of a Tudor-style mansion near the Hudson River, architectural designer James Nigro installed a colonnade that frames the arched French doors; the division also gives the vast chamber a more intimate feel. Alexa Hampton’s decor, which includes a flowered chinoiserie mural, brings the property’s verdant landscape indoors (2007). (credit:Scott Frances)
Before(05 of12)
Open Image ModalMANHATTAN LIVING ROOM (credit:Billy Cunningham)
After(06 of12)
Open Image ModalFor fashion designer Cathy Hardwick’s Manhattan living room, Mario Buatta conjured Anglo-American elegance after removing two mod built-in bookcases. Stripes and plaid add rhythm, chintzes blossom, and dark tones—antique chairs, moody paintings—introduce clarifying notes (1997). (credit:Scott Frances)
Before(07 of12)
Open Image ModalPARK AVENUE ENTRANCE HALL (credit:Billy Cunningham)
After(08 of12)
Open Image ModalA 1920s Park Avenue entrance hall lives up to its chic locale after designer Bunny Williams’s ministrations. Georgian-style architraves ennoble the space, as do Pompeian-red paint and a brass-accented terrazzo floor (found under the carpeting). Painted panels serve as virtual windows (1994). (credit:Billy Cunningham)
Before(09 of12)
Open Image ModalHAMPTONS ENTRANCE HALL (credit:Billy Cunningham)
After(10 of12)
Open Image ModalTo create a welcoming entrance hall for her 19th-century Hamptons residence, decorator Penny Drue Baird replaced built-in shelves and cabinets with a sweeping staircase. Handsome woodwork, evocative beams, and traditional windows establish a classic country-house atmosphere (1997). (credit:Billy Cunningham)
Before(11 of12)
Open Image ModalTRIBECA PENTHOUSE (credit:Shelton, Mindel & Assoc)
After(12 of12)
Open Image ModalShelton, Mindel & Assoc. built a partial wall to divide a lengthy space in a Tribeca penthouse. Now separated into a living area (in the foreground) and a media room, it incorporates doorways the same height as the windows, a trick that maximizes light and air circulation and provides continuity (2006). (credit:Michael Moran)