Fully Integrated Health Care Solutions: The Restroom and Beyond  

Designing Durable, Clean, and Inclusive Healthcare Restrooms

Sponsored by ASI Group

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Health care facilities are complex and, in many ways, represent some of the biggest challenges for designers. Because of their occupancy nature, health care facilities must support public health and represent superior levels of performance and safety, while also providing an attractive, welcoming environment. The high traffic typical in these facilities requires a great degree of durability, cleanability and ease of maintenance.

Privacy, ease of use, accessibility sustainability and hygiene must be not only present, but seen and understood by those in the building. Restroom quality makes a major impression on patients and staff. In a competitive health care marketplace, institutional impressions matter. This presentation will look at the importance of good, holistic and inclusive public restrooms, patient bathrooms and locker rooms for health care facilities and provide important tips and considerations for effective design.

healthcare facilities

Photo courtesy of ASI

Project: Penn Presbyterian Medical Center Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Architect: Ewing Cole

Originally published in Architectural Record

Originally published in January 2025

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
  1. Discuss important trends and requirements for the design of restroom facilities in health care applications.
  2. Identify considerations for hygiene, privacy and inclusion, durability, accessibility, aesthetics, usability, and sustainability.
  3. Acknowledge basic ADA regulations and accessibility strategies for public restrooms and patient bathrooms, noting that designing for patient use and safety often requires additional measures.
  4. Acknowledge the importance of safety, privacy, usability and comfort in health care restrooms.