Turner’s Home, completed in 2012, is the eleventh home in the 20K Project series and was designed to add some versatility to the catalog of model homes proposed in 2011 with Joanne’s Home. The primary focus of the design was to address accessibility for the client and the issue of safety within the context of West Alabama’s tornado-prone climate. Like most 20K Project homes, Turner’s Home is raised on piers, but this make entry into the home difficult for someone with an ambulatory disability. A long ramp was designed to be integrated into the front porch, allowing for an accessible entry. The dimensions of Turner’s Home were designed to have a one-room width. Not only does this allow opportunities for cross-ventilation and natural lighting, but it facilitates a clear floorplan to provide ample turning space for a client in need of a walker or wheelchair.
The house also contains a tornado safe room that doubles as an accessible roll-in shower. This was a deliberate design response to the common practice of having safe rooms double as closets—meaning they fill with clutter, as closets do—making them unsuitable for a client with disabilities who needs to act swiftly in emergency situations. Constructed separately from the rest of the home and abiding by FEMA recommendations, the safe room provides an environmental safety measure previously unseen in the 20K Project.
