Successful washroom design in the age of COVID-19 The washroom, arguably one of the most difficult
respond quickly to nearly any design requirement. The
design challenges today, may be one often taken for
ASI Group, for example, supplied and installed metal
granted and relegated as a menial design task.
partitions for an emergency COVID-19 field hospital in
With few exceptions, the washroom has emerged as a focal point in the journey back to normalcy. Leaders
Old Westbury, a village on the north shore of Long Island, NY, in 72 hours.
in fields like business, medicine, education, and trav-
Wide Design Freedom. Identify a supplier that pres-
el, who are anxious to put their organization back to
ents you with a large design palette. Don’t limit your-
work and bring customers back into their venues with
self to a narrow range of material choices just because
confidence, recognize this. If architects or facility own-
that’s all the supplier offers. For example, look for a
ers get the washroom wrong, workforce and customer
source that represents metal, plastic, and phenolic par-
distrust will spread like the virus itself, sowing seeds of
titions across a wide array of sizes and colours.
doubt about returning safely to these enterprises.
Think Open Source. Some soap and sanitizer com-
Dr. Greg Poland, professor of medicine and infec-
panies offer proprietary products that may sound
tious diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minne-
good upfront, but lock the owner into a costly long-
sota, speaks plainly when describing the challenges
term contract. Don’t specify soap or sanitizer products
ahead. Consider the washroom water faucet and door
that ties up your owner financially and leaves them at
handles, for example. “We swabbed them and put petri
the mercy of an individual company’s supply chain. The
dishes in the incubator. The handles were grossly in-
recommendation is to use non-proprietary dispensers
fected with bacteria and viruses.”
that accept any qualified product which can increase
Today’s best practices to prevent the spread of infec-
availability and reduce costs.
tion may have come from ad hoc design patches devel-
1 Risking 100? Don’t underestimate the washroom. It
oped to solve immediate problems in hospitals, emer-
may represent less than 1 per cent of the building cost,
gency rooms, and other frontline washrooms since the
but it puts 100 per cent of the occupants at odds or
outbreak began. So, what’s the best way to elevate
at ease with their employer’s return-to-work decision.
these design patches into more long-term, thought-
A well-designed bathroom can be the deciding fac-
ful, design-driven solutions? It is a question that man-
tor in elevating a building from good to great. Bath-
agement at the ASI Group has given a lot of thought.
rooms, if given the requisite attention to detail, can
The ASI Group is a respected manufacturer and global
make a much greater positive impact on the user expe-
supplier of a wide variety of washroom accessories,
rience of a building—thus influencing their opinion of
sanitizer dispensers, toilet partitions, lockers, and visu-
the school, the town, the business, the building owner,
al display products. The acronym that ASI commonly
and the architects who designed the building. n
uses for its portfolio offerings is PALM – Partitions, Accessories, Lockers, and Markerboards. Their work has allowed them to engage with architects and management teams at top hospitals across the globe and their understanding of a hospital’s needs born from collaborating with the medical industry throughout the ordeal gives them a unique perspective and may offer highly informed, real-world insights available nowhere else. They share a few thoughts about lessons learned: Collaborate. Our understanding of, and the demands placed on us by COVID-19 are constantly shifting. We advise designers to seek out suppliers that have a nimble mindset and manufacturing agility to
