How Do You Make a Corporate Washroom Inviting?

Communal toilets. The phrase, alone, sends a cold shiver down the spine, conjuring as it does images of barely functional facilities, damp, low levels of essential supplies and – there’s no getting away from it – yes, the smell. But, corporate washrooms don’t have to cause ablution anguish. They can actually be havens of tranquillity and freshness with just a little effort.

In fact, any company that invites people to spend time on their premises (i.e. all of them – you all have employees, don’t you?) and doesn’t create an inviting space within which to clean up is doing itself a serious disservice. Nobody wants to be that place with the nasty toilets that everyone chooses to avoid.

So, here are a few tips to help you develop a corporate bathroom that will keep your employees, clients and customers coming back. And keep you from doing any serious brand damage.

It’s 50% aesthetics and 50% hygiene

Simple thing to remember. Your company washroom doesn’t just need to look beautiful, it also needs to function beautifully. People should be walking out of that place thumbing at it to the people outside, saying, “nice restroom!” It needs to smell good, look good, feel good, work perfectly and have all the right stuff in there so that people can do what they need to do with the minimum of fuss and distraction. Design it with as much enthusiasm as you would if you were fitting out a new kitchen for a restaurant.

Simple, easy-to-clean surfaces 

Corian® and other solid surfaces are some of the easiest materials around to clean. They are nonporous, so they don´t let any water through. You can just wipe them down with disinfectant and warm water, dry them off with a dry cloth and they’re good to go. That’s why they use Corian in hospitals – it has a very simple, sanitary feeling. Go for colours that either have complete wow-factor (blue, orange, cocoa, yellow…) or that give a sense of being calm and welcoming (glacier white). No grey! Grey is yesterday – remember that rhyme. Your floors and walls should be tiled. No painted plaster, anywhere. ‘Wipe-clean’ is your mantra.

Self-cleaning toilets

Once a luxury afforded only to the Japanese and German, nowadays, self-cleaning toilets are everywhere. Particularly if you’re running a busy environment with lots of footfall that only has the cleaners in once or twice a day, putting a self-cleaning loo in is really an essential measure. As competition between manufacturers increases, the price has come down, so it’s easier than ever to have them installed into your corporate washroom and, because they’re still something of a novelty, your employees and customers will be just delighted to find them there.

Simple, secure locks that won’t break

Nothing with a key. That’s rule one. You’ll lose them all in the first week and you don’t want people getting locked in the cubicles. Get locks that won’t come loose at the first hard push from someone checking the door – no simple old-fashioned sliding bolt mechanisms! Whatever you do, don’t have wooden doors on the loo as you know what happens to them – carved graffiti and new lock holes ‘drilled’ by enterprising loo-goers. Your cubicles will be a wreck within weeks. The best lock will have a simple twist mechanism on the inside and a ‘vacant/occupied’ sign on the outside and it will have a deadlock that slides into a well-fitted metal chamber.

Calm, low lighting

The most garish thing about corporate restrooms is almost always the lighting. You should never be able to look in the mirror of a communal washroom and think to yourself: “I look like I’m on a night bus.” It doesn’t matter how bright and snazzy your surfaces are, the calmer and yellower your lighting is, the nicer your employees, customers and clients will look in the mirror – that will make them happy. And the nicer the overall vibe of the bathroom will be, too.

Pay attention to the taps

Even a corporate bathroom can have beautiful taps. We may be a fussy species when it comes to taps but hands-free isn’t necessarily the way to go if you’re looking for that luxurious feeling. People don’t mind turning off the taps if the bathroom is kept clean and fresh so don’t think you have to go all high-tech. In fact, low-tech often looks more high-end. Brass taps, black taps and wall-mounted taps will give your corporate washroom that sense of being just a little bit classier than your average LED sensor affair.

Toilet roll, paper towels and hand dryers

Plentiful but out of sight. That’s the key to paper products. Never let them run out. Nip in there at least three times a day to replenish. Most people would imagine corporate bathrooms to have hand dryers now and they certainly are more efficient than ever – especially the Dyson Air Blade. But some people feel that it’s more energy efficient and hygienic to used recycled paper towels. It’s arguably more luxurious, too, so long as you never, never, never let the bins overflow. It just has that old-school touch. Cloth roll hand drying system? No thanks, that stuff is gross.

Fresh flowers 

Buying and replacing fresh flowers on a regular basis will turn your corporate bathroom from functional to exceptional. Just don’t let them die and rot, otherwise they’re doing more harm than good to the overall mise en scene. Put fresh flowers on your shopping list, just as you would loo roll. And have them replenished just as you would loo roll too. We challenge you to try this. Walk into your corporate bathroom right now and take a look. Then go get some flowers and see the difference. Flowers? No flowers? You know what to do.

Don’t stick stuff on walls and to the backs of doors

Final little tip for any of you heavy-handed autocrats out there. Whether it’s printed off the work printer, bought from a gift shop, laminated or otherwise, stuff stuck to the walls and doors just looks horrible. OK, so maybe some of your employees sprinkle when they tinkle, but a well-worded policy document can be emailed around as necessary: you don’t have to print it out and stick it to the back of the door. It’s hardly going to leave a great impression on your clients, is it? Also, if you’re going to put up artwork (we’d suggest you don’t – it will date fast in the moist environment), at least make sure it’s completely watertight and framed beautifully.

Now, off you go to make a style statement so amazing your employees will want to move their desks/ cash registers into the bathroom. Happy designing!