Anthony Binns Featured in Profiles Magazine

By Liz McCarthy

The title of this award-winning project, “A roundabout Way of Designing” is not only a fitting description of the design, but of the designer as well. Anthony Binns, CKD, CBD, was born and raised in the kitchen and bath industry. His family has owned and operated Binns Kitchen + Bath Design in Ontario, Canada, for over four decades. Binns grew up in his family’s showroom, working along side his parents and his brother. However, like many young adults, Binns yearned to venture out on his own.

After graduating college, he joined the armed services and worked with explosives. Eventually, he found his way back to the kitchen and bath business and now runs the company with his brother and a new generation of Binns, including his son, niece and nephew.

Now, after over 20 years of designing, Binns is always up for a challenge. “This project allowed me to design a unique solution,” said Binns. “Most importantly, I was able to design a bathroom that would make my client more self sufficient and greatly improved his quality of life.”

Gaining Access

The client has a debilitating medical condition that had recently required him to use a wheelchair. Over the years, as the client’s condition worsened, the homeowners had outfitted the house with ramps and stair lifts and even purchased a specialized van for him to drive. Binns had worked on two spaces in the home, remodeling the rooms to make them more accessible.

“It is very important to my client that his disability isn’t visually prevalent in the home,” said Binns. “For many years, he has been fighting the standard notion that a room designed for someone with a disability has to look like it was. He wanted a custom design that anyone would be happy to have. Whether you have a disability or not, you want your kitchen and bath to look spectacular.”

When developing the kitchen, Binns designed the countertops as a support rail for his client. He could grip underneath the counter to help move himself around the kitchen. Two years ago, Binns revamped the existing laundry room to accommodate a ramp from the garage. In the end, the bathroom had become his greatest challenge. The small space included a tiny cubicle shower with a glass door and a tile surround and a bathtub mounted on a large deck. There was no access under the vanity for a wheelchair. The bathroom was nearly impossible for the client to use.

The first priority was having enough space for the wheelchair to maneuver, including a wheelchair turning space with a diameter of at least five feet for complete access. “I started by drawing the design with circles. I looked at it for a couple of days and thought, ‘can I really do the room like this?” said Binns. The uniqueness of the curved walls visually hides most of the grab bars from sight. The curves allow the client to maneuver the wheelchair without colliding with objects or the walls. To create this barrier-free space, floor joists were shaved and supported with P-lam material which removed the need for a shower threshold, giving the client full access to the shower. The floor was tapered toward the shower drain and an additional drain was added to decrease water build up.

Skillful Solutions

The barn door separating the toilet area is a unique design element as well as a great example of incorporating the client’s strengths into the design. The wife did not want the door when it was not in use. A custom door was created that has a hollow core and glides on an arched track. The client added the decorative tassel that he uses to operate the door. “My client has been finding solutions to challenges for himself for years,” said Binns. “He is very adept at improving environments for his ease of use.”

Binns also became very skilled at reaching beyond to find that ideal design element. While most sources recommend using mirrors that tilt for full accessibility, Binns wasn’t satisfied with this status quo. “The combination of the circular and the arched mirror above the vanity is an extremely important part of the design,” said Binns. Not only does it meet the guideline of providing reflection at eye level, regardless of the user’s eye height, it does so with great style. “This design could be found in any bathroom regardless of who it was designed for,” he said. It is chic and functional – and happens to work very well for a client in a wheelchair.

Binns discusses accessibility with all his clients. “I ask if they’re thinking about the future and making the space accessible.” The key, according to Binns, is building more options and flexibility into the design. “Things can change very quickly. It is easier to build it in now then waiting till they need it.”