The corridor concept: new and improved restroom design.

Removing the handwashing station from the restroom proper and placing it in the adjacent hallway offers a world of advantages for your schools.

Easing congestion within school restrooms has never been a simple task. Facility planners are all too familiar with the challenges of maximizing classroom area without compromising necessary facilities. Added to the equation today are the serious issues of student safety, a nationwide concern after recent high-profile violence in schools,

The combined considerations of space conservation, traffic management, and facility maintenance have led to innovative product developments, from multi-station and linear sink systems to hands-free technology and new vandal-resistant surfaces. Nevertheless, we're still designing restroom space the same way we did 50 years ago, and it's time to consider a better system.

The "Coming Out" of the Handwashing Station

Removing the handwashing station from the restroom proper and placing it in the adjacent hallway - referred to in the industry as the corridor concept - offers a world of advantages for the school community.

While the new Central Road School in Rolling Meadows, IL, was being planned in 1994, significant consideration was given to reducing vandalism in the restrooms. When the school's head custodian, Mark Herron, saw the plans incorporating the corridor concept, he knew that they had hit upon an effective means of managing unruly restroom behavior.

"When you're afraid of getting caught, you're much less likely to mess around," explains Herron. "When we had the sinks in the restroom itself, there was a lot of vandalism. The kids would stuff wet towels in the drains and play with the soap. Any problems we had disappeared when we moved the sinks out of the restroom." Herron adds that high schools would equally benefit from the corridor concept, especially in cutting down incidents of smoking in restrooms.

Using the corridor concept, the new Central Road school "stacked" boys' and girls' restrooms on the first and second floors. The set-up in each includes boys' and girls' restrooms with separate entries, but a common handwashing area which is open to view from the hallway, saving space and offering increased supervision. In this particular application, two linear sink decks with three stations each are arranged side by side.

The Privacy Issue

Herron acknowledges that the issue of privacy was raised in the planning stages of the new school. But he and Central Road School principal Jill Weininger agree that the layout of the school's restrooms balances the dual requirements of privacy and supervision schools face today. Weininger remarks that in addition to increased supervision, the corridor concept increases appropriate behavior by putting boys and girls together. Both boys and girls are less likely to misbehave in the presence of the opposite sex, she notes.

Other Benefits

School planners who employ the corridor concept realize its value beyond space conservation. In terms of cost savings, this simple solution holds both immediate and long-term benefits. First, consider the savings on design and materials that result from the construction of a single wet wall. Six-inch walls can now replace the additional 12-inch-thick wet wall structure that is typically required within the boys' and girls' restrooms. Also, with a single bank of sinks serving two restrooms, schools enjoy significant savings on the installation and maintenance of water lines.

Consider also the greater ease with which ADA clearance requirements can be met with a handwashing station placed in the corridor. The same space-saving philosophies which apply to the planning of restroom interiors, such as linear and multi-station sink systems, can also be used in the corridor. And serving two restrooms with a single, barrier-free sink system reduces the material and space devoted to meeting ADA requirements without compromising accessibility.

Proper Planning

Of course, proper planning is required in selecting the number of stations necessary for the projected restroom traffic, and local codes vary in stipulating minimum student-to-sink station ratios. But with a combination of the two-, three-, or four-unit decks on the market today, school planners will have no trouble keeping their students' hands clean using the corridor concept while meeting all federal clearance requirements and maintaining smooth traffic flow.

The immeasurable advantage of added security is perhaps the greatest benefit of the corridor concept, which maintains the "moving traffic" philosophy, discouraging loitering within restrooms, a factor which not only combats congestion, but also increases school safety.

Even before the recent highly publicized violent incidents in American schools, federally funded research showed some disturbing trends in the nation's schools. The 1993 National Household Education Survey, for example, revealed that 20 percent of all students surveyed opted to stay away from certain places in the school building, including restrooms, out of concern for their safety. The seclusion offered by restrooms also accounts for the greater incidence of vandalism perpetrated there, a fact leading to increased use of vandal-resistant fixtures and surfaces.

Reducing Vandalism

The use of off-set doorless entries also acknowledges the dangers of student isolation within schools. One feature of "unsafe schools" cited by Daniel J. Flannery in a 1997 study entitled School Violence: Risk, Preventive Intervention and Policy is that they "are poorly designed with respect to physical space. Staff members are unable to monitor and supervise student behavior effectively or efficiently."

Clearly, the less time students spend unsupervised in school results in fewer acts of vandalism. By employing the corridor concept, a relatively simple design solution, schools ensure a significant reduction in long-term maintenance and repair costs. Fewer incidents of vandalism will also decrease student fear of using restrooms, with the safety measure serving to build bonds between administrators, teachers, and students for a common sense of security.

Roger Champagne is Vice-President, Fixture Sales, Bradley Corp., Menomonee Falls, WI.