Features of the office include wide hallways and meeting rooms specifically designed to overcome communication barriers.
Peggy Giakoumelos reports.
Light switches on the outside of rooms to allow for ‘Deaf knocking’ - just one of the features added to a new Melbourne office of not-for-profit Expression Australia.
The charity has been supporting the Deaf and hard of hearing community since 1884.
Its C-E-O Nicky Long says the organisation worked very closely with the community to design the space.
"Once upon a time, children who were Deaf, were told that those spaces, those opportunities would not be available. So you can't be something you can't see as a role model. So the process and the designing starts at the very beginning. So just the actual concept of having a purpose built organisation or space has to start at the very beginning before any architectural plans. So that is getting Deaf and hard of hearing people to the table and discussing what spaces have you been in before that you've found inclusive and made you feel comfortable?"
The purpose-built office space is the first of its kind in Australia designed by the Deaf for the Deaf.
Other features include wide hallways to allow two people to walk side-by-side and communicate using Auslan; artificial and natural light that's vision friendly; and curved meeting rooms to increase visibility for co-workers.
Breakout areas designed with circular features also allow group discussions in Auslan.
Speaking through an Auslan interpreter, Sasha Dalton says the design makes communicating with her workmates a lot easier.
"I think sometimes when we are going through our daily life, we confront barriers that we don't realise, and then when we are freed from those barriers it's a real relief. Like here you can walk side by side through the corridors of the new office and not have to worry about communication, one person being in front of the other. It's really clear."
Alex Jones, who is Deaf, is the Assistant Director with the Disability Royal Commission.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Jones says inclusion is a fundamental human right.
"Through the Royal Commission, people with disability came forward and talked to us about why accessibility and inclusion in safe spaces are important. It's to provide opportunities for every person in society to truly be who they are, celebrate their identity and feel like they belong. So with every key area in society, people need to be committed to include those with disabilities."
The Department of Health estimates that about 3.6 million people have some level of hearing loss in Australia.
The factors causing hearing loss include age, untreated hearing disease and genetics.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have a much higher rate of ear disease than other children, which can result in hearing loss.
Demetrio Zema is the Chair of Expression Australia board.
He says more than half the organisation's staff are Deaf or hard of hearing, and they were an important part of the consultation and design process.
"A space like this does not just happen and when we think of most of our staff or more than 50 per cent of our staff being Deaf or hard of hearing, we were thinking how do we make a space that is really fit for purpose for them. So working with a leading Deaf architect was really important for us. But obviously when we look around today we can see how impactful it has been."
Current Australian Building Standards do not mandate or incorporate Deaf space requirements.
Australia's first purpose built office for the Deaf community has opened in Melbourne.
It includes features such as wider hallways and meeting rooms specifically designed to overcome communication barriers.
Peggy Giakoumelos reports.
Light switches on the outside of rooms to allow for ‘Deaf knocking’ - just one of the features added to a new Melbourne office of not-for-profit Expression Australia.
The charity has been supporting the Deaf and hard of hearing community since 1884.
Its C-E-O Nicky Long says the organisation worked very closely with the community to design the space.
"Once upon a time, children who were Deaf, were told that those spaces, those opportunities would not be available. So you can't be something you can't see as a role model. So the process and the designing starts at the very beginning. So just the actual concept of having a purpose built organisation or space has to start at the very beginning before any architectural plans. So that is getting Deaf and hard of hearing people to the table and discussing what spaces have you been in before that you've found inclusive and made you feel comfortable?"
The purpose-built office space is the first of its kind in Australia designed by the Deaf for the Deaf.
Other features include wide hallways to allow two people to walk side-by-side and communicate using Auslan; artificial and natural light that's vision friendly; and curved meeting rooms to increase visibility for co-workers.
Breakout areas designed with circular features also allow group discussions in Auslan.
Speaking through an Auslan interpreter, Sasha Dalton says the design makes communicating with her workmates a lot easier.
"I think sometimes when we are going through our daily life, we confront barriers that we don't realise, and then when we are freed from those barriers it's a real relief. Like here you can walk side by side through the corridors of the new office and not have to worry about communication, one person being in front of the other. It's really clear."
Alex Jones, who is Deaf, is the Assistant Director with the Disability Royal Commission.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Jones says inclusion is a fundamental human right.
"Through the Royal Commission, people with disability came forward and talked to us about why accessibility and inclusion in safe spaces are important. It's to provide opportunities for every person in society to truly be who they are, celebrate their identity and feel like they belong. So with every key area in society, people need to be committed to include those with disabilities."
The Department of Health estimates that about 3.6 million people have some level of hearing loss in Australia.
The factors causing hearing loss include age, untreated hearing disease and genetics.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have a much higher rate of ear disease than other children, which can result in hearing loss.
Demetrio Zema is the Chair of Expression Australia board.
He says more than half the organisation's staff are Deaf or hard of hearing, and they were an important part of the consultation and design process.
"A space like this does not just happen and when we think of most of our staff or more than 50 per cent of our staff being Deaf or hard of hearing, we were thinking how do we make a space that is really fit for purpose for them. So working with a leading Deaf architect was really important for us. But obviously when we look around today we can see how impactful it has been."
Current Australian Building Standards do not mandate or incorporate Deaf space requirements.
