Friendly Buildings

Overview

To shape an accessible and inclusive built environment for all, the Friendly Buildings initiative makes information on accessibility and user-friendly features more readily available, so that users can find out whether a newly completed building has certain facilities before they visit. For example, a nursing mother can check if a new shopping mall has lactation rooms, or a caregiver of a person with disabilities can check if a newly opened attraction has an accessible changing room — that is, an accessible washroom with an adult-sized changing bed.

The information on Friendly Buildings is contributed by architects and developers under the Universal Design index (UDi) ↗ (opens in new tab), a self-assessment framework introduced in 2022. The dataset will be updated quarterly as new buildings are completed.

User-friendly facilities

Friendly Buildings provides information of facilities for different groups of users, including persons with disabilities, seniors, families with young children, and expectant or nursing mothers.

Multiple platforms for accessing information

i. Maps from Open Government Products

Information on user-friendly facilities can be discovered on an intuitive map-based website at maps.gov.sg/friendlybuildings ↗ (opens in new tab). Users can search by building to find out the availability of specific facilities, or filter by facility type to discover which nearby buildings offer what they need. The screenshots below provide a walkthrough of how the website can be used.

Find out more information about a specific building by searching its name or address.

Matching results are shown on the left, together with the locations on the map on the right, indicated by circular markers.

The selected building is highlighted. Details of the available user-friendly facilities are displayed, including the locations of lactation rooms and accessible changing rooms, where available.

The selected building is highlighted, along with its available facilities. Locations of lactation rooms and accessible changing rooms is shown, where available.

ii. Google Maps

BCA is also collaborating with Google Maps ↗ (opens in new tab) to surface more information on accessibility and user-friendly features in buildings. The screenshots below show how this information can be accessed.

Find out more information about a specific building by searching its name or address

See under the “About” section of the interested building.

The availability of user-friendly facilities is shown.

Frequently Asked Questions