Is there anything better looking than Metpar, Ampco, Bobrick, Bradley or Flush Metal? Something like this:
So far the best choice in the US seems to be Hadrian (not great at all) or custom.
Any help is much appreciated.
holz.box
Dec 17, 07 5:51 pm
Might be expensive, but what about prodema?
pluk
Dec 17, 07 6:17 pm
metamechanic
what hardware did you use? If I have to go custom I will have to use some type of laminate/panel material, but prefer not to use this :
type of hardware.
More like this:
but its BTS Trennwandsysteme and they are too busy installing them in Germany, won't do it in CA.
Chase Dammtor
Dec 17, 07 9:47 pm
i HATE bathroom stalls. here's why.
problem:
you can see people's feet through them. gross! i don't want to see the feet of people who are going to the bathroom.
solution:
design stalls with much lower doors! add some mechanism (i.e. like on airplane bathroom doors) that will tell us if someone is inside so we don't have to rely any longer on seeing people's feet
problem:
there's cracks in between the partition walls and you often accidentally see in! this is gross, i don't want to see people who are going to the bathroom! it's also a disgusting lack of privacy...
solution:
design walls and joints with no cracks. we have successfully done this every place other than in the bathroom. what's the hold up?
biggest problem:
stalls are placed too close to sinks and mirror. if i'm just going in to the bathroom to do something nice and clean (i.e. wash my hands, fill up my water bottle, brush my teeth, comb my hair, whatever) i really don't want to hear/smell someone going to the bathroom! it's so gross! i get sick to my stomach every time i go in to wash my hands!
solution:
lay out the bathroom differently.
i think we need to write a bathroom bill of rights, to prevent all of these nasty situations.
Peter Normand
Mar 23, 18 11:00 am
the bottom of the stall height is an ADA issue in the US so that a person in a wheel chair can have space to turn around in and they use the 9" tall by 6" clearance for their feet to swing under the partitions when maneuvering in a very tight space. if you drop the partitions down to the floor you need to make the stall bigger. The other benefit with the ceiling mounted stalls with space underneath is it is much easier to keep the restroom clean. A lot of the public bathroom stall doors have cracks and "weird" hardware for safety reasons, if someone was having a medical emergency they likely will head to the toilet as most illness involves symptoms of nausea, toilet partition doors if lifted from the bottom either slide off the hinges or release the latch making it easier for paramedics to get into the stall in an emergency.
accesskb
Mar 24, 18 12:45 am
problem:
"there's cracks in between the partition walls and you often accidentally see in! this is gross, i don't want to see people who are going to the bathroom! it's also a disgusting lack of privacy..."
Or have some perverts/peeping Tom try to peek in while someone is in the crapper... Actually happened to me. I had to go in a public bathroom. Caught some guy in his 50's peeping in and actually 'winking' at me. I yelled out and he took off >< creepy
Living in Gin
Dec 17, 07 10:16 pm
What Chase said.
When I'm out and about in the city, and feel the need to use a public restroom in such a manner that requires a stall, I try to make a point to use the facilities in a nice hotel. The nicer hotels in Manhattan -- and I have an ever-growing mental list of which ones -- usually have each "stall" built as a separate room with a full-height door, including proper jambs and a deadbolt. The fancy towels and mints are nice, too.
The people at the front desk never hassle me, as I'm usually dressed semi-decently and act as if I belong in the hotel. The staff won't risk being rude to somebody who may actually be a paying guest.
Of course, there are occasional desperate situations when I must make do with whatever facilities are nearby, in which case it's a matter of "any port in a storm."
Renewable
Dec 17, 07 10:20 pm
just make sure the partitions are high enough above the floor such that you are able to see and tap the foot of the person next to you.
mkokimoto
Dec 17, 07 11:51 pm
One of my biggest fears has always been being shot at while in the prone position.
I hereby propose that you build your toilet stall out of Bullet-Guard Ballistic floor-to-Ceiling clear plastic.
What if you run out of toilet paper? Easy! We will specify this:
Laugh all you want, I will not get shot at while taking a dump!
We really need to use this on the ADA stall. That way we can make sure there are no illicit activities going on inside. Besides, this will make a non handicapped person feel more guilty about using a handicapped stall.
-Safety
-Security
-Ease of specification
-Off the shelf parts
-fast procurement
What more can you ask for? This will work especially well on unisex restrooms. I can't wait.
Okay... fine. How about acrylic pieces like the bullet guard with colored and vandal resistant formica or other type of plastic sandwiched on the insides of the stall for privacy. Each stall can be a different color. The attachment and the hardware will be exactly the same as what we're used to.
liberty bell
Dec 18, 07 12:09 am
Jeepers, you guys sound like a bunch of girls. Do you all pee sitting down?*
*Please note this attempt at humor is actually an homage to that much-used insult from Archinect version 1: "You pee like a girl". I don't really think that of any of you.
Chase Dammtor
Dec 18, 07 12:28 am
Do you really need to keep the inside of stalls publicly visible enough to prevent illicit actives? How many people really do drugs / have sex / whatever inside a bathroom stall? Enough that the owner of the bathroom would really care? I mean... I can barely stand to wash my hands with the smells of the bathroom - I sure as hell don't want to have sex while smelling my neighbor's feces...
Peter Normand
Mar 23, 18 4:28 pm
The illicit activities, especially in public places is a huge problem which is why in most office buildings in the city the restrooms are always kept locked and in parks and other places they are changing the lighting to an intense blue light to make it harder for drug users to find their veins.
mkokimoto
Dec 18, 07 1:57 am
It's not about preventing the illicit activities happening as much as being able to watch them happening! heh! As designers, we all have a duty to watch how people interact with the built environment... and what better way to do that then with a clear toilet partition! (the added bonus being the illicit activity going on within)
We can all stand outside of these stalls with our spiral notebooks... taking careful notes as that crackhead does lines off the toilet porcelain with a five dollar bill. Or watching two folks going at it like rabbits. Or shaking our heads and wagging our fingers as a vandal tries to etch a gang sign into the vandal-resistant clear plastic toilet partition walls.
The insight gained from such observations is nothing short of priceless!
Peter Normand
Mar 23, 18 4:31 pm
most crack snorting is typically off the toilet paper dispensers which had been designed with a level stainless steel surface, now these fixtures have a curved or slanted edge and public restrooms in parks no longer get outfitted with a purse shelf. The crackheads have unfortunately started using the baby changing stations. So if you are in the mall make sure you use the paper liners and wipe it off before changing your baby.
pluk
Dec 18, 07 2:01 am
-chase dammtor
thats why we are ripping the old ones out
-living in gin
TI project, no space for private stalls, no plumbing changes
mkikimoto
-here is my solution for you:
inside:
and
at least you know whats going on around you
-liberty bell
here is where i would like to take my next pee
or have sex and do drugs while smelling my neighbor's feces
holz.box
Dec 18, 07 2:08 am
that space burned out my retinas, i think i took 5 years off my eyes. rem's a prick, but i get his strategy - blind all architects that visit his project so he's the sole remaining (and all-seeing) god.
FRO
Dec 18, 07 2:44 am
fear of defecation = fear of death
can I recommend a book for everyone -
anybody ever been on a multi-day rafting trip?.....
b3tadine[sutures]
Dec 18, 07 5:07 am
two things; floor mounted partitions are a maintenance nightmare. i think there are a few reasons partitions do not go to the floor; ada, cleaning and access and/or exit in case of injury or door malfunction - and perhaps a high school prank....
aquapura
Dec 18, 07 9:03 am
Nobody stated the obvious...hold it 'till you get home. If I'm out at a dive bar I sure as hell ain't using those stalls...if there's anything even left of the partitions. Many a bar I've been in where there's just a toilet out in the open next to the urinals.
Beta's right about floor mounted/full height partitions. Obviously none of you have actually cleaned a public restroom. Not a job I miss but it does give me useful perspective. Much easier to push a mop under partitions...or just hose off the whole floor. Classy hotels don't have public restrooms that see a lot of use...and those that do probably are a bit more sanitary about their business. A stadium after all the drunken fans have left looks much different. There's a place for the fancy nice stalls and a place for the easiest to clean.
Peter Normand
Mar 23, 18 4:32 pm
Or you can just stay home.
liberty bell
Dec 18, 07 10:45 am
The Moscow airport in 1991 not only didn't have partitions, it didn't have toilets. Just a line of holes in the concrete floor. Get over yourselves, you guys, we're all human. As FRO noted: Everyone Poops (great book, my kid loves it).
Steven Ward
Dec 18, 07 10:53 am
i think it's bradley that has a new recycled wood fiber/resin panel that looks cool enough that i've been curious whether i could use it in other applications besides toilet partitions.
Chase Dammtor
Dec 18, 07 12:16 pm
Just because people CAN deal with such nastiness doesn't mean we should. We will deal with it in our daily lives because we are forced to, but as intelligent visionaries, when we see a problem, we should do what we can to address it.
pluk
Dec 18, 07 2:11 pm
-holz.box
sorry for hurting your retina. Here is a more soothing approach:
Alvaro Siza, Leça da Palmeira Swimming Pool Oporto.
-metamechanic, I like that approach, maybe I can use prodema as holz.box pointed out. The partitions will most likely be off the floor for maintenance reasons and ADA compliance.
-liberty bell
the romans were more advanced than that:
at least they were able to sit and have a chat
-chase dammtor
very true, maybe its time for a thread celebrating great design solutions found in humble spaces like public restrooms etc.
zoroaster
Dec 19, 07 9:22 am
Partition height can be a factor, too... at my last firm there were a couple tall guys, and I could see them ("Hi, Rob!") when they were standing, as I came in through the door..
pluk
Dec 19, 07 1:00 pm
just found out there is another challenge to public restroom design: Lighting not to exceed 0.6 W/square foot, Title 24. That means 9W CFL/stall and a little bit more (13W?) over the sinks. No natural light available. Now I understand OMA's design at the IIT: make the walls translucent to get some additional light in.
pluk
Dec 20, 07 1:40 pm
raising the bar:
d'arc / timisoara
wired all the way
flickr comments:
BEN:
where's the keyboard?
G_EU:
touchscreen ... i guess
LOL
randomised
Mar 23, 18 6:50 am
No thanks Brikley, reminds me of this
randomised
Mar 24, 18 5:10 am
Brikley, it's not my preferred way to use a bathroom where people see your pants around the ankles, hear all the noises or smell all the smells. I prefer a bit more quality than that.
Sean!
Mar 23, 18 1:33 pm
of course you could go the custom route...
But for an off the shelf product Thrislington is probably your best bet. I’ve spec’d the ribbon product on a few jobs. They’re a pain in the ass to work with but the final product is worth it.
Also, Gensler was getting into the toilet partition game. I saw some of the prototypes, they were pretty nice, not sure if they have launched yet.
Is there anything better looking than Metpar, Ampco, Bobrick, Bradley or Flush Metal? Something like this:
So far the best choice in the US seems to be Hadrian (not great at all) or custom.
Any help is much appreciated.
Might be expensive, but what about prodema?
metamechanic
what hardware did you use? If I have to go custom I will have to use some type of laminate/panel material, but prefer not to use this :
type of hardware.
More like this:
but its BTS Trennwandsysteme and they are too busy installing them in Germany, won't do it in CA.
i HATE bathroom stalls. here's why.
problem:
you can see people's feet through them. gross! i don't want to see the feet of people who are going to the bathroom.
solution:
design stalls with much lower doors! add some mechanism (i.e. like on airplane bathroom doors) that will tell us if someone is inside so we don't have to rely any longer on seeing people's feet
problem:
there's cracks in between the partition walls and you often accidentally see in! this is gross, i don't want to see people who are going to the bathroom! it's also a disgusting lack of privacy...
solution:
design walls and joints with no cracks. we have successfully done this every place other than in the bathroom. what's the hold up?
biggest problem:
stalls are placed too close to sinks and mirror. if i'm just going in to the bathroom to do something nice and clean (i.e. wash my hands, fill up my water bottle, brush my teeth, comb my hair, whatever) i really don't want to hear/smell someone going to the bathroom! it's so gross! i get sick to my stomach every time i go in to wash my hands!
solution:
lay out the bathroom differently.
i think we need to write a bathroom bill of rights, to prevent all of these nasty situations.
the bottom of the stall height is an ADA issue in the US so that a person in a wheel chair can have space to turn around in and they use the 9" tall by 6" clearance for their feet to swing under the partitions when maneuvering in a very tight space. if you drop the partitions down to the floor you need to make the stall bigger. The other benefit with the ceiling mounted stalls with space underneath is it is much easier to keep the restroom clean. A lot of the public bathroom stall doors have cracks and "weird" hardware for safety reasons, if someone was having a medical emergency they likely will head to the toilet as most illness involves symptoms of nausea, toilet partition doors if lifted from the bottom either slide off the hinges or release the latch making it easier for paramedics to get into the stall in an emergency.
problem: "there's cracks in between the partition walls and you often accidentally see in! this is gross, i don't want to see people who are going to the bathroom! it's also a disgusting lack of privacy..."
Or have some perverts/peeping Tom try to peek in while someone is in the crapper... Actually happened to me. I had to go in a public bathroom. Caught some guy in his 50's peeping in and actually 'winking' at me. I yelled out and he took off >< creepy
What Chase said.
When I'm out and about in the city, and feel the need to use a public restroom in such a manner that requires a stall, I try to make a point to use the facilities in a nice hotel. The nicer hotels in Manhattan -- and I have an ever-growing mental list of which ones -- usually have each "stall" built as a separate room with a full-height door, including proper jambs and a deadbolt. The fancy towels and mints are nice, too.
The people at the front desk never hassle me, as I'm usually dressed semi-decently and act as if I belong in the hotel. The staff won't risk being rude to somebody who may actually be a paying guest.
Of course, there are occasional desperate situations when I must make do with whatever facilities are nearby, in which case it's a matter of "any port in a storm."
just make sure the partitions are high enough above the floor such that you are able to see and tap the foot of the person next to you.
One of my biggest fears has always been being shot at while in the prone position.
I hereby propose that you build your toilet stall out of Bullet-Guard Ballistic floor-to-Ceiling clear plastic.
What if you run out of toilet paper? Easy! We will specify this:
Laugh all you want, I will not get shot at while taking a dump!
We really need to use this on the ADA stall. That way we can make sure there are no illicit activities going on inside. Besides, this will make a non handicapped person feel more guilty about using a handicapped stall.
-Safety
-Security
-Ease of specification
-Off the shelf parts
-fast procurement
What more can you ask for? This will work especially well on unisex restrooms. I can't wait.
Okay... fine. How about acrylic pieces like the bullet guard with colored and vandal resistant formica or other type of plastic sandwiched on the insides of the stall for privacy. Each stall can be a different color. The attachment and the hardware will be exactly the same as what we're used to.
Jeepers, you guys sound like a bunch of girls. Do you all pee sitting down?*
*Please note this attempt at humor is actually an homage to that much-used insult from Archinect version 1: "You pee like a girl". I don't really think that of any of you.
Do you really need to keep the inside of stalls publicly visible enough to prevent illicit actives? How many people really do drugs / have sex / whatever inside a bathroom stall? Enough that the owner of the bathroom would really care? I mean... I can barely stand to wash my hands with the smells of the bathroom - I sure as hell don't want to have sex while smelling my neighbor's feces...
The illicit activities, especially in public places is a huge problem which is why in most office buildings in the city the restrooms are always kept locked and in parks and other places they are changing the lighting to an intense blue light to make it harder for drug users to find their veins.
It's not about preventing the illicit activities happening as much as being able to watch them happening! heh! As designers, we all have a duty to watch how people interact with the built environment... and what better way to do that then with a clear toilet partition! (the added bonus being the illicit activity going on within)
We can all stand outside of these stalls with our spiral notebooks... taking careful notes as that crackhead does lines off the toilet porcelain with a five dollar bill. Or watching two folks going at it like rabbits. Or shaking our heads and wagging our fingers as a vandal tries to etch a gang sign into the vandal-resistant clear plastic toilet partition walls.
The insight gained from such observations is nothing short of priceless!
most crack snorting is typically off the toilet paper dispensers which had been designed with a level stainless steel surface, now these fixtures have a curved or slanted edge and public restrooms in parks no longer get outfitted with a purse shelf. The crackheads have unfortunately started using the baby changing stations. So if you are in the mall make sure you use the paper liners and wipe it off before changing your baby.
-chase dammtor
thats why we are ripping the old ones out
-living in gin
TI project, no space for private stalls, no plumbing changes
mkikimoto
-here is my solution for you:
inside:
and
at least you know whats going on around you
-liberty bell
here is where i would like to take my next pee
or have sex and do drugs while smelling my neighbor's feces
that space burned out my retinas, i think i took 5 years off my eyes. rem's a prick, but i get his strategy - blind all architects that visit his project so he's the sole remaining (and all-seeing) god.
fear of defecation = fear of death
can I recommend a book for everyone -
anybody ever been on a multi-day rafting trip?.....
two things; floor mounted partitions are a maintenance nightmare. i think there are a few reasons partitions do not go to the floor; ada, cleaning and access and/or exit in case of injury or door malfunction - and perhaps a high school prank....
Nobody stated the obvious...hold it 'till you get home. If I'm out at a dive bar I sure as hell ain't using those stalls...if there's anything even left of the partitions. Many a bar I've been in where there's just a toilet out in the open next to the urinals.
Beta's right about floor mounted/full height partitions. Obviously none of you have actually cleaned a public restroom. Not a job I miss but it does give me useful perspective. Much easier to push a mop under partitions...or just hose off the whole floor. Classy hotels don't have public restrooms that see a lot of use...and those that do probably are a bit more sanitary about their business. A stadium after all the drunken fans have left looks much different. There's a place for the fancy nice stalls and a place for the easiest to clean.
Or you can just stay home.
The Moscow airport in 1991 not only didn't have partitions, it didn't have toilets. Just a line of holes in the concrete floor. Get over yourselves, you guys, we're all human. As FRO noted: Everyone Poops (great book, my kid loves it).
i think it's bradley that has a new recycled wood fiber/resin panel that looks cool enough that i've been curious whether i could use it in other applications besides toilet partitions.
Just because people CAN deal with such nastiness doesn't mean we should. We will deal with it in our daily lives because we are forced to, but as intelligent visionaries, when we see a problem, we should do what we can to address it.
-holz.box
sorry for hurting your retina. Here is a more soothing approach:
Alvaro Siza, Leça da Palmeira Swimming Pool Oporto.
-metamechanic, I like that approach, maybe I can use prodema as holz.box pointed out. The partitions will most likely be off the floor for maintenance reasons and ADA compliance.
-liberty bell
the romans were more advanced than that:
at least they were able to sit and have a chat
-chase dammtor
very true, maybe its time for a thread celebrating great design solutions found in humble spaces like public restrooms etc.
Partition height can be a factor, too... at my last firm there were a couple tall guys, and I could see them ("Hi, Rob!") when they were standing, as I came in through the door..
just found out there is another challenge to public restroom design: Lighting not to exceed 0.6 W/square foot, Title 24. That means 9W CFL/stall and a little bit more (13W?) over the sinks. No natural light available. Now I understand OMA's design at the IIT: make the walls translucent to get some additional light in.
raising the bar:
d'arc / timisoara
wired all the way
flickr comments:
BEN:
where's the keyboard?
G_EU:
touchscreen ... i guess
LOL
No thanks Brikley, reminds me of this
Brikley, it's not my preferred way to use a bathroom where people see your pants around the ankles, hear all the noises or smell all the smells. I prefer a bit more quality than that.
of course you could go the custom route...
But for an off the shelf product Thrislington is probably your best bet. I’ve spec’d the ribbon product on a few jobs. They’re a pain in the ass to work with but the final product is worth it.
Also, Gensler was getting into the toilet partition game. I saw some of the prototypes, they were pretty nice, not sure if they have launched yet.