SCHOOL TOILETS
The following article was written by Ellen Aasletten, Senior Architect with the School Facilities Planning Division of the California Department of Education.
Questions about toilet rooms are among the most frequent questions received by the California Department of Education, School Facilities Planning Division. The questions come from the general public and they deserve our attention. The architects and educators in C.A.S.H. need to develop and share solutions with the school districts we serve.
DESIGN QUESTIONS:
- Why are there more fixtures for boys than girls?
- Where are handicapped access toilets?
- Why are there lines to use the facilities?
- Where are facilities for portable classrooms?
MAINTENANCE AND EQUIPMENT QUESTIONS:
- Why is there no hot water? soap? toilet paper? or towels?
- Why are toilets dirty, smelly, and vandalized?
SECURITY QUESTIONS:
- Why are they locked during school?
- Why is there no security?
- Why are there no cubicle doors?
- Why is my child afraid to use school toilets?
The answers lie in the layout and design of toilet facilities. Maybe the days of the traditional gang toilets are over and we need to re-evaluate how we treat this very necessary function.
Locking the facilities (a common response of some administrators) may be an answer to security or maintenance problems but it obviously is not the appropriate solution for the student body.
Vandalism and terrorism occur in toilets because they are usually unsupervised. Without supervision, toilet facilities can become major socializing spaces, jungle gyms, or can be claimed as private territory. Toilets would be safer and less liable to damage if they were not social gathering spaces.
SOLUTIONS:
The California State Department of Parks and Recreation started eliminating gang toilets in their public facilities many years ago, and with a consequent reduction in attacks on people and property.
New park toilets are essentially single user spaces containing one lavatory and one toilet and doors that open directly to public space. Other public places, such as airports and department stores, are also using the single user facility. A similar solution maybe the answer for school toilet design.
Another approach might be to provide toilets with each classroom (or classroom cluster) so that access would be from the classroom and under supervision. Master Planning area allocation recommended by California State Aid is 3 to 5 square feet per student for toilets. This should be enough area to provide two single user rooms for each 30 students. Extra costs, if any, may have to be justified as special security needs.
Toilets would be cleaner if they were designed to be cleaned with a high pressure hose. Examples of easy to clean spaces include meat preparation areas and indoor swimming pools. Materials and details used in these spaces could be applied to school toilet rooms.
More radical solutions include toilet facilities designed to be portable so that they could be taken back to "factory" for deep cleaning and refurbishing. Maybe the technology exists to make them self-cleaning, like ovens.
Toilet rooms could be designed like appliances with formed corners and no joints, rather than as rooms that need to be washed down by hand to prevent damage to finish and substrate materials.
This necessary but expensive component of the school facility needs a fresh design approach by architects and building committees. The questions we receive indicate problems exist. Solutions are in the hands of school planners. If any of the questions quoted at the beginning of this article apply to your existing schools, analyze alternatives as you plan new facilities. Don't perpetuate problems.
If the School Facilities Planning Division of the California Department of Education can be of any assistance, please call (916) 322-2470.
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