The toilet area of large commercial projects is always a problem. In Israel, there are laws indicating the number of male and female toilets required according to surface and number of employees and other parameters. The application of fixed rules seems to me wrong, and it is always very difficult to explain to the owner that he has to assign a large area to toilets which necessarily reduces the commercially useful metrage. I am thinkikng on writing an article for a trade magazine proposing a more flexible approach, but I have to come up with something better than the current formula.
For example, the current requirements do not address such situations as (a) people requiring assistance from a spouse, (b) parent and opposite sex children, (c) mothers with babies and with twins, (d) very small or very large people, (e) morbidly fat people and (f) children. The urgency to access a restroom should also be taken into account: while a healthy man or woman can wait a few minutes, old people and women with the period and other categories cannot wait. It can be most unconfortable for them.
There is another problem with fixed proportion of male and female restrooms. There are places where the the proportion of males and females is different from the one implied in the rules, such as football stadiums (majority of males) and concert halls (majority of aged women). There also places where the proportions are variable, so a system should be invented where the site manager can apportion restrooms according to the nature of the public using them. I mean it should be a number of unisex restrooms (Israeli rules never heard of unisex restrooms).
Having to wait demonstrates the failure of the code.
An emerging problem is the need for specially equipped restrooms for people with special phyisical problems. Israel gives a lot of attention to restrooms for invalids, yet they are designed for the generic invalid, and they may not be suitable for special invalids. I am not familiar with this issue, but I will research it for my article.
One (American) approach says that "the planning of toilet facilities in public venues should not be based on "code minimum" compliance. Architects should start to recognize the link between ample toilet facilities and increased concessions revenue... after all, who wants to buy and extra beer or purchase food if you are uncomfortable and are not well served by toilet facilities! Ample toileting means a better economic bottom line." Is there an economic study proving this hypothesis? This approach is unheard of in Israel, so it well could be the nucleus of my article.
5 comments:
I remember seeing a short news program that had a segment on the difficulties of restroom planning in major stadiums. One solution a stadium owner used was to have a moveable wall between the men's and women's bathrooms and move it back and forth based on the type of event being hosted at the stadium, thereby adjusting the number of toilets available to each gender.
Unisex toilets are not acceptable? I would have thought socialists would insist.
As far as toilets are concerned I am of the opinion that you cannot have too many of them. Singapore is well known for its well serviced toilet facilities shopping centres and public amenities. When I visit India or China the contrast couldn't be more marked (with India being worse.) The trouble is that they have to be cleaned regularly, with the workers being lowly paid. I mean who wants to clean, if he can help it after others?
I'll ty to find Singapur regulations and learn.
The problem with fixed formulas is that their rigid application leads to absurd results. For example, there are regulations in the US regarding the % of parking spaces that must be reserved for the handicapped. If the total # of spaces in the lot is small, then the % thing works out, but if you have a very large parking lot, you end up with dozens of the best parking spaces "reserved" for handicapped people who don't show up. I assume that the true predictive function is not linear. Even worse the regulations don't account for the type of store. For example, for the most part handicapped people do not frequent lumber yards/ home improvement centers such as Home Depot - if you cannot walk how are you going to load lumber into your vehicle? So you have in effect wasted space - parking spaces that sit permanently empty while the actual customers have to park farther away.
With toilets, the most difficult problem is that women take much longer to urinate than men so balancing toilets 50/50 results in long lines for the women's room.
K
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