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Public Restroom Design Considerations Post-COVID
Public restrooms are a standard feature at most parks, but post-COVID, several park managers and municipalities face an uphill battle reopening restrooms and keeping them cleaner with reduced staff. Here are some simple design considerations for future restroom builds to help.
What are important features to consider post-COVID?
Single-occupant restrooms and air ventilation.
A single-occupant layout solves the social distancing issue and provides gender-neutral restrooms simultaneously. A private restroom space is more inclusive to several groups: individuals with disabilities that need assistance, parents with children, or transgender and non-binary individuals. Another benefit is increased security with the ability to lock the door.
Introducing fresh air into the restroom through vent screens is one of the most effective ways to provide natural ventilation and make the environment safer. Stainless-steel vent screens at the gable ends of the building will help reduce transmission of any airborne pathogens. The lower the viral particle concentration the smaller chance virus particles will accumulate on surfaces and/or that restroom users will inhale them. Make sure your future restroom design maximizes natural air flow by including vent screens.
What are some other ideas to maintain cleanliness?
Incorporating automatic sensors over manual operation fixtures wherever possible reduces the number of surfaces being touched. This is for anything requiring operation, such as soap dispensers, faucets, hand dryers, flush levers, doors, and lights. You don’t have to make everything automated, but each automatic sensor installed means one less surface to clean. With reduced staffing, the less surfaces to wipe down the better—a win-win.
How can we encourage more hand washing?
One idea is placing the sink on the outside of the building. Traditionally sinks are located inside the building, but by placing them on the exterior, a park user can wash their hands without entering the building at all. The exterior placement also helps prevent homeless individuals from camping out inside to use the sink.
