This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2026) |
Maggie Davis and her husband Ken opened a housing scheme on Grove Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, in 1976, following the principles of Independent Living. They helped to set up the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS).[1]
History of Grove Road
editThis section may primarily relate to a different subject, or place undue weight on a particular aspect rather than the subject as a whole. (June 2026) |
In September 1972, Maggie and Ken established a cooperative to buy land, commission architects and design their own housing scheme, consisting of six flats three of which are wheelchair accessible. This was to be known as the Grove Road Housing Scheme.[2]
After four years, on 13 September 1976 they moved into Grove Road, which was designed specifically to enable them to have independence. In order to find accessible fixtures and fitting for their new home, Maggie and Ken had to source a kitchen sink from Sweden, which had enough room for a wheelchair under the sink, lowered work surfaces and ceiling hoists to enable access from the bed to chair to bathroom. [3]
Through working with the architects, they were able to ensure that the building and adaptations met their needs and enabled them to no longer be reliant on non-disabled people helping them. The idea behind the housing was to enable three homes for disabled and three homes for non-disabled residents in the building, with the non-disabled residents providing support and assistance to their disabled neighbours if required.[citation needed]
Information and research on the Grove Road Housing Scheme and Maggie and Ken Davis is now held at the Royal Institute of British Architects Archive,[citation needed] and the History of Place website.[4] Their story was showcased in 2018 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in the "Without Walls: Disability and Innovation in Building Design" Exhibition.[5]
Death
editDavis died in March 2024.[6]
References
edit- ↑ Pring, John (21 March 2024). "Maggie Davis: Tributes to pioneer, rebel and advocate". Disability News Service. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
- ↑ "Grove Road Housing Scheme – History of Place". Historyof.place. 20 September 1972. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ↑ "Liberation architecture: Maggie Davis and the birth of independent living – History of Place". Historyof.place. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ↑ "History of Place – Eight places 800 years in the lives of deaf and disabled people". Historyof.place. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ↑ "V&A · Without Walls: Disability and Innovation in Building Design". Victoria and Albert Museum.
- ↑ "A Tribute to Maggie Davis". Disabled People's Archive. Retrieved 1 June 2026.