Basque home architecture law with 'gender perspective'

THE BASQUE regional government has drafted a new residential home architecture decree to 'increase safety' and make houses and flats 'women-friendly' – although their sentiments have hit a nerve, especially in terms of the kitchen design.

Regional president or Lehendakari Íñigo Urkullu says the legislation – now at the 'public exhibition' stage before it comes into force – states that kitchens 'should be a suitable size to serve as a kitchen-diner' or, if not, be joined onto the lounge, dining room or lounge-diner 'so that they can be accessed directly from each other' or at the very least, 'be connected visually'.

Kitchens should have at least seven square metres of floor size not including units and appliances.

For kitchen-diners, the kitchen area should be at least five square metres, or the entire room together must be a minimum of eight, not including areas taken up by fixtures, fittings and white goods.

In small flats where the kitchen, lounge and diner are one single room, they must be a minimum of 17 square metres net of fixtures.

No self-contained property may be less than 35 square metres – a little larger than an average-sized one-bedroom flat in the UK – and single-storey homes must be at least 2.5 metres in height throughout 75% of their living areas, which can be reduced to 2.3 metres for kitchens and 2.2 metres in corridors and cloakrooms, but not main bathrooms.

Bedrooms, where they are separate – meaning studio flats are exempt – have to be a minimum of 10 square metres, and in homes with more than one bedroom, doubles must not be less than eight square metres, singles a minimum of six square metres and the master bedroom 10 square metres.

All properties must have at least one space for storage or for a wardrobe or cupboard, with not less than one square metre per occupant.

Sharp jutting corners, confined spaces, blind spots, setbacks and dark areas or tight nooks are not allowed or, where they cannot be avoided, 'mirrors, lights or other visual systems' must be built in so that anything and anyone in these areas can be easily seen – a move aimed at 'removing dangers to anyone using the property'.

Communal areas must have 'sufficient lighting' which switches on automatically, and lifts down to underground resident parking areas should have a card-key or similar held by each resident to allow them to enter or leave – the idea being that strangers cannot enter the basement and anyone in it who feels threatened has an escape route.

Director-general for housing in the Basque Country's regional government, Pablo García Astain, says these minimum requirements are mainly for safety and accessibility and for public health reasons, but that 'for the first time', the law is 'taking gender into account'.

The safety and security aspects have been thought through so as to protect women against violence, and the open-plan nature of the kitchen-diner-lounge areas is to 'prevent confinement and isolation' of 'the person carrying out domestic chores' from other occupants in the house.

A flood of criticism has hit social media, however, with female users slamming the 'gender perspective' of 'not confining occupants to the kitchen'.

Twitter user Marta Pastor called it 'caveman-like and sexist'.

“Kitchens 'with a gender perspective so as not to confine and isolate women', according to Pablo García Astrain. I'm still pinching myself as I'm not sure whether I'm dreaming this,” she wrote.