Capella’s Stylish Mobility Aids Are a Gamechanger for Aging in Place

I realize the second I walk into the café that I’ve forgotten my travel mug. But I wouldn’t have needed it anyway, because Kaly Ryan came prepared: we say our hellos, and the Vancouver-based industrial designer—who is co-founder and director of Capella Design—hands over a pair of her tapered, speckled ceramic mugs to the barista.

Yes, Capella’s Holm Stability mugs have been specifically designed to accomodate different grip strengths and dexterity needs—and they’re just one item in Capella’s collection of made-in-Canada accessibility and mobility products. But they can serve a caffeine- craving, able-bodied 30-something (me) just as effectively. Because the thing about great accessible design is that, ultimately, it’s for everyone.

This is the big idea that Ryan and her Capella co-founder, Ottawa-based health-tech entrepreneur Patrick Glinski, are trying to get through to us all, one aesthetically pleasing spill-proof mug or Scandi-cool shower stool at a time.

“Anyone can use a side table that’s more comfortable. Patrick’s 13-year-old daughter uses his shower seat more than anyone in the house,” says Ryan. “We think about accessibility as being a binary, but it’s not.”

When I reach to receive my Americano, I grab onto the mug’s pleasingly over-sized handle. My fingers slip easily around the cup. It’s surprisingly lightweight. And, of course, it’s beautiful—just like the rest of Capella’s designs. Everything has the same west coast modern touch as Ryan’s previous furniture-design venture, Willow and Stump. Organic materials like wood (or clay, in the case of the mugs) are key to the design palette here, not medical-grade plastics. Products are infused with a warmth; these are things that would look right at home alongside your Eames chair.After all: there are enough challenges that come along with aging or living with a disability. Why should your interior design have to suffer, too?

Shower seats, assisted lifts and the like can be necessary for safety. But they’ve also traditionally looked like medical devices—not the vibe most of us are going for. In fact, almost half of recommendations for assistive products go unfollowed, often because people want to avoid turning their home into a clinical setting.

Glinski found plenty of evidence to support this, as he visited homes for his health-related work over the years: families all over the world were frustrated by how mobility aids disrupted their spaces and reminded them constantly of their aging or disability. His own parents struggled when it came time to adapt their home for his late father, who had Parkinson’s. “People don’t always want these things in their houses. It’s not just a grab bar, it’s a reminder that you need help now,” says Ryan. “When your body is changing, everything’s in flux and suddenly your home doesn’t feel like your home, it’s really hard.”

Ryan’s own grandfather lived independently until his mid-90s, thanks to modifications her mother and aunt made to his home in small-town Manitoba. (“They were ahead of their time!” she says.) And that’s the dream for most Canadians—more than 96 percent of us want to age in place, Ryan reports. With Capella, she and Glinski are creating tools that empower us to live comfortably and safely into our elder years, without sacrificing personal style: a world where modern design and occupational therapy can co-exist.

Capella’s sturdy Lotic shower seat, for instance, is waterproof, rust-free and non-slip, but it looks like something you might find accessorizing a spa: it’s made from recycled wood composite that looks like teak. The chic Selora grab bar frame—an ADA-compliant grab bar discreetly integrated into a picture frame—offers up to 250 pounds of stability while blending seamlessly into your decor. The Corbel side table takes inspiration from swinging hospital-style overbed tables, but presents that convenience and flexibility with handsome solid Ash and matte black steel.

Of course, Ryan and Glinski aren’t doing it alone: they work closely with the accessibility community on ideation and prototyping. “There’s this concept of ‘nothing about us without us’ in the accessibility community,” explains Ryan. “It’s about disabled people with lived experience designing and planning for their own well-being. It’s about listening to what people actually need and involving end users in the design and testing process.” They also talk with occupational therapists and interior designers—“everyone in that ecosystem”—and the more they talk, the more clear it is just how meaningful this work is. “We’re having a profound, immediate impact on people’s quality of life,” says Ryan. “It’s a pretty great part of the job.”

Ryan and I are sitting in a cozy Strathcona café, but as we sip the last of our coffee from our ergonomic (yet effortlessly elegant) mugs, Ryan is thinking back to her grandfather’s Manitoba home.

“We played cribbage constantly when I was a kid, but then for the last years of his life, he couldn’t really get to the kitchen table. It doesn’t seem like much, but it was a big part of our relationship. And I realize now that I built the adjustable table for us,” she says, thoughtfully. “To be able to give people the chance to continue to do these things together, and to give them the option to live as they choose, and age the way they want… that’s the mission, right?”