Design of a public toilet – what should it include?

The toilet in a private home is significantly different from that in a public place. A public bathroom must, first of all, be designed in such a way that it meets sanitary and hygienic standards and complies with current regulations. Therefore, what should the design of a public restroom include to make its use comfortable and safe?

Public restroom design

To make the use of toilets in public places comfortable and hygienic, they must meet specific requirements. Many of them should be taken into account already when the architect designs the room.

How to design public restrooms depends primarily on where they are to be located. After all, different conditions must be met by a bathroom at a train station or shopping mall, and different conditions for rooms located in a school or hospital. This means different challenges and the need to adapt the design of a public toilet to different regulations. It must also be taken into account that each user group – women, men, people with disabilities, children – has different needs that must be taken into account so that the finished bathroom is distinguished by high usability standards.

The most common problems that arise when using a public toilet are due to mistakes during design. Poorly placed ventilation or improper layout of the room and layout of toilets also make it a real challenge to maintain proper hygiene levels in the bathroom.

However, there are times when designers have to make certain compromises in order for the facility to meet all the requirements under the law. The construction law, which they must comply with, is a collection of many legal acts that must be taken into account when creating a public toilet design. As a result, it becomes difficult, though not impossible, to apply some solutions.

Modern designs of public toilets combine high quality workmanship with excellent aesthetics. Nowadays they provide not only access to hot water and necessary preparations and detergents, but also lighting that starts automatically thanks to a photocell, self-closing doors and other details that improve not only convenience, but in many cases also safety. A well-kept bathroom with an aesthetically pleasing finish is what perfectly demonstrates the investor’s priority for users.

Arranging a public restroom

The right design in terms of dimensions and fixtures is not enough. A key aspect of arranging a public restroom is the design of the room, which includes such equipment as toilet seats, sinks, soap and antibacterial liquid dispensers, containers for paper towels and toilet paper or hand dryers, but also the tiles or coverings used on the walls and floors. The character of the room is also determined by accessories such as mirrors, lamps and bathroom fixtures.

The best choice is to use equipment from one product line. This ensures that all items will match in terms of the quality of materials used, design and color scheme. This, in turn, makes the interior look consistent and harmonious. In addition, no time is wasted on searching for individual matching appliances, making it much easier to furnish a toilet.

When planning the furnishings for the toilet, you should also pay special attention to the shape and size of the room. After all, both the selected equipment, the color of the walls, as well as other elements must fit into it, so that the entire interior is aesthetically pleasing and functional. For example, the arrangement of a very small public toilet should assume the use of solutions that optically elevate and enlarge it. Such styles as loft, japanese or Scandinavian are perfect here. In turn, in a large bathroom, for example, you can use dark tiles without risking that the interior will look overwhelming.

It is also important to be guided by functionality. For example, if touchless taps or soap dispensers, for example, are to be used in a particular bathroom, care should also be taken to ensure that appliances such as towel dispensers or dryers do not need to be touched. It is also worth betting on appliances that look modern and have no unnecessary decorations. As a result, they match solutions that promote hygiene (such as sanitary ware made of steel); in addition, the room is easier to keep clean.

Despite the fact that a visit to a restroom usually does not last more than a few minutes, its aesthetics are no less important than its functionality. It is also important for users’ evaluation of the entire facility. Unsightly or poorly decorated restrooms reflect badly on its reputation and may even discourage visits.

Public toilet – technical conditions

In the case of public toilets, the technical conditions that a room must meet to be considered compliant relate not only to its dimensions and necessary equipment. It is also important to use appropriate materials and apply technical solutions that ensure the comfort, privacy and safety of the user, regardless of gender, age and health status, such as:

• making the floor from materials that are not slippery, do not soak up water and at the same time are easy to wash,
• Cover the walls with materials that do not absorb water and are easy to clean, such as ceramic tiles or wall coverings,
• Ventilation consisting of exhaust fans or ducts and ventilation grilles.

Care should also be taken to divide public toilets into women’s toilets, men’s toilets and toilets adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. For women’s public toilets, there must be a minimum of one toilet bowl for every 20 people. Men’s toilets, on the other hand, must provide a minimum of one toilet bowl and one urinal for every 30 people. In the latter case, the bathroom must be equipped with both urinals and at least one isolated cubicle. Regardless of the type of toilet, there should be at least one washbasin for every 20 people.

Public toilet dimensions

The dimensions of a public toilet are precisely determined by regulations found in the Decree of the Minister of Infrastructure. According to them:

• The toilet must have separate toilet stalls with a minimum length of 150 cm and a width of 90 cm,
• The door to the separate toilet must be a minimum of 200 cm (height) by 80 cm in the light of the frame.

In their lower part, openings with a total cross-section of not less than 0.022 square meters should be planned.

At least one cubicle in a public toilet should be adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. This means that its minimum width should be 90 cm, and the area in front of the toilet bowl must be a minimum of 90×60 cm.

The regulations also specify the following dimensions to be considered when designing a toilet:

• vestibules must be separated from the room with toilets by solid walls for the full height of the room,
• The door to the bathroom must be a minimum of 90 cm wide, the door to toilet stalls must be 80 cm wide, and the door to toilet stalls for people with disabilities must be 90 cm wide,
• partitions that divide the men’s and women’s toilets must be solid walls for the full height of the room.

Importantly, the regulation only specifies the minimum dimensions of bathrooms and toilet stalls. In practice, however, the room should be slightly larger to ensure maximum convenience of use.

Ventilation in a public toilet

Ventilation in a public restroom is a very important aspect. This is important not only for legal reasons. After all, a public bathroom is a place with high humidity, which in turn creates ideal conditions for the proliferation of bacteria and the development of mold on walls, ceilings and floors.

The issue of ventilation in toilets is specified in Health and Safety Regulations § 27.3: ? “In toilet rooms, air exchange should be provided at a rate of not less than 50 m? per hour per toilet bowl and 25 m? per 1 urinal.”?

In practice, ventilation in a toilet should consist of ducts and vents, as well as exhaust fans. They should be arranged so that they are located at a maximum distance of three meters from the various lots of equipment (toilet seat, washbasin, etc.).

Particularly important is the efficient exchange of air in the area around the sinks and the toilet, i.e. the regions where the humidity is highest. Ideally, the ventilation system can draw air from outside. Then care should be taken to introduce less of it than is brought out.

It is also permissible to draw air from an adjacent building, as long as it is naturally ventilated or has an air conditioning system.

Public restroom lighting

In the case of a public restroom, care should also be taken to provide adequate lighting. It must provide users with the necessary comfort, but also emphasize the aesthetic qualities of the room.

The lighting of a public restroom should be bright, with a warm color temperature. This applies to any source of light – both the main one and the local one, located, for example, near the washbasin. Adequate brightness is important primarily because, in addition to taking care of physiological needs, many people in the restroom inspect their appearance, touch up their makeup, etc.; in addition, a restroom with brighter light gives the impression of being cleaner than a room with less light. However, if a toilet has windows, the choice of lighting must be very careful so that the light is not too harsh in the end.

For public toilets, lighting should be energy-efficient. It is, first of all, environmentally friendly, but also allows for a significant reduction in energy bills, especially in places where many people use the toilet every day.

Public toilet – accessories

The basic equipment of a public toilet is, of course, toilet bowls, sinks and urinals. However, this does not mean that you should be limited to these fixtures only. Essential accessories in a public restroom also include:

• dispensers for liquid, foam or gel soap,
• trash garbage cans,
• toilet brushes,
• Handrails and handles in the case of a bathroom adapted to the needs of people with disabilities,
• baby changing tables,
• hand disinfectants,
• Fragrance cartridges for toilets and urinals,
• containers for toilet paper and paper towels,
• air fresheners.

Although the presence of some of the listed accessories in public restrooms is not required by law, their placement is an increasingly common good practice. They affect the comfort of the toilet by making the opinion of both the bathroom and the facility as a whole better than in places that lack such equipment.