Public bathrooms can be a headache to design, considering you're not just doing so for your own private use, but for hundreds or even thousands of users each day. Durability and functionality become key factors that will determine if a public bathroom is going to adequately meet the needs of the masses.
It's never easy designing something meant for public use, as you're essentially catering to the needs of people from all walks of life, all whilst ensuring that it holds up against regular usage. The same can be said when it comes to designing a public bathroom, especially since it's one of, if not the most frequented public facilities because everyone needs to go at some point. From finding the ideal urinals, to environmentally friendly bathroom taps in Singapore, find out what some of these key considerations are, and how you can get quality bathroom features courtesy of TOTO, one of the best toilet bowl brands in Singapore.
Facilities for the Disabled
A great deal of attention has to be paid to the disabled in our community, and rightly so. Alternatives include a private and separate cubicle for handicapped folks that you can commonly find in most public establishments today, but it's scarcely enough. This is why more public bathrooms have installed handicap-friendly features in their cubicles, like hand rails to help the disabled prop themselves up from their wheelchairs, for instance, as well as lowered bathroom taps for their convenience.
Appropriate Washroom Facilities
Besides tending to the disabled, other demographics should also be considered, such as young children, infants, and the elderly. This is why most public bathrooms have low urinals and even separate rooms for mothers to breastfeed and change their infants' diapers.
Environmental and Health Considerations
Public bathrooms are heavily used, which results in heavy water usage, as well as a ripe breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria; you might even have the unfortunate "pleasure" of encountering certain folks who don't even wash their hands. To minimise health and environmental hazards, it is therefore important to consider modern solutions, made possible by today's technology. Touchless technology, for instance, does wonders for maintaining the hygiene levels of public bathrooms, from touchless urinals that use sensors to automatically flush themselves after each use, to touchless soap dispensers and bathroom taps in Singapore that also eliminates the need for germ-filled hands to operate.
Another advantage of touchless urinals, toilets, and faucets is that the amount of water used is controlled, compared to their manual counterparts that are prone to being overused. It's no secret that the world's water supply is gradually dwindling, and every drop of water counts. As one of the best toilet bowl brands in Singapore, TOTO is known for its utilisation of innovation to design bathroom features capable of saving water without compromising on efficacy.
Ventilation
One important consideration when designing a public bathroom is the overall ventilation of the premises. Ensuring that air flows freely and in abundance in and out of the bathroom significantly minimises the all-too-familiar toilet stench as well as the amount of bacteria lurking around. Bathrooms can also be stuffy, but good ventilation also helps users feel more comfortable when relieving themselves.