Author of Designing for the Disabled
Selwyn Goldsmith, who has died aged 78, was the author of Designing for the Disabled (1963), a comprehensive architectural planning manual providing guidance on access for disabled people to facilities and buildings. This was an entirely new concept in the UK at the time.
When he was commissioned to write the second, expanded, edition of the book, published in 1967, he selected Norwich as a representative city for his research. He studied the local population and based his findings on their experience. He interviewed 284 wheelchair users, and carried out detailed analyses to develop his hypotheses. A significant initiative arising from his research was the concept of the dropped kerb: 15 were installed at intersections around the city and this facility is now a feature of urban landscapes throughout the world.
Born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, he was educated at Abbotsholme school, Staffordshire, and read architecture at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, completing his qualification at the Bartlett School, University College London, in 1956. He contracted polio immediately afterwards, which resulted in his being paralysed on one side of his body.
Goldsmith then met Bill Allen and Duncan Guthrie, from the Polio Research Fund, and Gordon Ricketts, the secretary of the Royal Institute of British Architects. They developed the idea behind Designing for the Disabled.
After a spell as buildings editor at the Architects' Journal, Goldsmith joined the Department of the Environment. In 1981, he produced reports on mobility housing, and was a key figure in the international year of disabled people. In 1982, he became the first architect to receive the prestigious Harding award, for his services to disabled people.
He was appointed to the Prince of Wales Advisory Group on Disability (now The Disability Partnership), and his international reputation led to numerous invitations to address architects, therapists and government bodies throughout the world, and particularly in the Netherlands.
In 1989, Goldsmith turned his attention to the question of women's lavatories, asking why women always seemed to have to queue in public buildings. He conscripted his wife, Becky, whom he had married that year, to assist his research with many visits to shops, museums and theatres. Their findings revealed a massive disparity in the provision of male and female toilets. The research was published in the Times and professional journals; it was also included in a major survey of sanitary provision written by Goldsmith for the Department of the Environment. He called a subsequent article on the subject "Ps and Queues".
In 1992, Goldsmith retired from the DoE, and set about writing a new book, Designing for the Disabled – The New Paradigm. Partly autobiographical, this work focused on the needs of wheelchair users, ambulant disabled people, children and families with pushchairs. In 2000, he published his last book, Universal Design.
I first encountered him in 1962, and we worked together many times in the ensuing years. He was never an easy person to deal with; he held strong views and enjoyed nothing more than an argument, always tempered with his zany sense of humour. He displayed an honesty that made him unpopular in some circles, but his integrity and charm won him great respect even among those with whom he battled.
He is survived by Becky, two sons from his first marriage, and three grandchildren.
• Selwyn Goldsmith, architect and disability rights campaigner, born 11 December 1932; died 3 April 2011