The recent guidance produced by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission that toilets and changing rooms must be used on basis of biological sex will be causing upset, anger and confusion for many people. Employers and designers will have a challenge to face creating provision for everyone regardless of gender.
In my eyes the way to provide inclusive facilities is not in creating more spaces for more needs but in providing for all with less complexity.
In most circumstances the ‘superloo’ is a way to create provision that anyone can use. These are self-contained cubicles with full height walls and doors (effectively a little room rather than a cubicle) with a toilet, basin and sanitary bin/s. They’re labelled as unisex or simply ‘toilet’ with no need to use the traditional male/female symbols.
Beyond providing for people who are trans or non-binary, this also serves the needs of people with medical requirements such as colostomy bags. It could be a place to apply makeup, change clothes or simply a quiet and private space which we all need from time to time.
This stretches to changing rooms as well, although I’d argue these could be typical partial height cubicles as long as there’s enough space to change, with adequate private showering provision. A great example of this is Center Parcs who even have a clever system where you enter from one side and exit into the pool side on the other. They have different sized cubicles for a single person to large families and those with disabilities.
In a lot of cases this can also be a much more space efficient. Rather than a number of urinals and cubicles, then separate areas for basins and hand dryers with all spaces rarely in use all of the time. A bank of self-contained toilets will usually make much better use of the space available.
When designing a new space this would be the way we approach toilet design and I’d urge anyone undertaking a toilet refurb to consider simplifying things and avoid overthinking or adding too much complexity. Of course this isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution but the same thinking can be applied in any situation to improve outdated facilities effectively and efficiently.
Wanna talk?
If you want to explore how this approach could be applied in your upcoming project, ensuring you’re providing inclusive and accessible toilet facilities for everyone, then just send us an email and tell me about the project.
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