ease creates space

Ease is the freedom to direct energy toward what matters

toward participation instead of navigation

toward conversation instead of self-advocacy

toward creativity, connection, learning, and rest

You know that accessibility matters. With care, you may still be wondering:

“How could accessibility strengthen this design?”

“What barriers might people experience here that we’re not seeing?”

“How do we design with disabled communities?”.

I offer myself as your guide

I bring together architectural expertise, lived disability, and community-centered practice to help navigate accessibility with greater confidence, care, and clarity.

Together, we’ll explore possibilities, navigate constraints, and create environments that support broader participation and well-being.

“Let’s practice care through creation together”

Who I am Get in touch
Sophia Xiao-fan Austrins smiles broadly while speaking with a community member at a Nature in Neighborhoods Community Choice Grants workshop. She is wearing a warm salmon colored shirt and patterned scarf and sports a pixie cut and glasses. The community member is a tall Black male wearing a brown jacket, black ski cap, and glasses. He holds colorful handouts. An Imagination Station is visible behind in front of a view out to a forested landscape.

Accessibility and Wellness Consulting for the Built Environment

multicolored wax strings and braille game pieces outline plantings, views, and gathering areas on a site plan alongside notes left on post-its at an accessible design engagement event

Design Possibilities

Design consultations and collaboration where accessibility is a lens for discovering new design possibilities. Together, we explore how disability knowledge can strengthen design decisions and support a broader range of sensory, cognitive, social, and physical experiences.

Access and Wellness Consulting

Accessibility integrated with wellness frameworks to support healthier, more supportive environments. Together, access and occupant well-being shape how people experience comfort, connection, participation, and quality of life in place.

Accessibility Plan Review

Accessibility review integrated into project milestones help teams align design intent, regulatory requirements, and emerging best practices as projects move from concept through construction documentation.

Inclusive Engagement Strategy

Expand participation by welcoming disabled people as contributors, collaborators, and experts in shaping their environments—through workshops, advisory input, and co-design approaches tailored to the project context.

How I Practice

Background Image: A hopeful dawn sky is overlaid with lines that evoke pathways, arched openings, and softly flowing architectural spaces.