Performance Comparison: Pilaster System vs. High Privacy Enclosure System

This course has so far examined and described the differences between the typical pilaster toilet compartment and the new high-privacy toilet compartments now available. Among the three compartment systems available today – pilaster-based, high privacy enclosure, and fully closed toilet compartments, multiple degrees of privacy are available in each, depending on specifications selected by the design professional. While high privacy and fully enclosed toilet compartments standardize a higher level of privacy, pilaster-based designs can be optioned to provide greater privacy. The bigger question is how the performance of each solution compares. An assessment of the performance of pilaster-based and high privacy restroom enclosures is summarized here, in terms of their ability to create a private occupant experience with reduced sightlines, aesthetic appeal, durability in the commercial restroom space, and sustainability.

Delivering a High-Privacy Experience

The truth is that this is not the first time that customers have begun to clamor for better privacy in the restroom. It’s just the first time that the design and specification community has had access to a tool to provide the improved privacy, without a lot of hardware. Before the introduction of the high-privacy toilet partition options, sightlines in the basic pilaster-based system were combatted by adding brackets to the door to obscure the existing gaps. Now, with high-privacy hardware, shiplap edges, and height options, there is no need to cover gaps with obtrusive hardware. The continuous edge-mounted hardware and shiplap closures eliminate the gap between the door and adjacent fixed panels, providing a smooth, sightline-free, and highly-private experience, without requiring that any bandage bracket fixes be incorporated into the design.

Achieving high-privacy design without a lot of additional parts and pieces makes the traditional partition system the better performing of the two in this category.

Aesthetic Appeal

The swap of the bulky, rectangular columns in the pilaster system for the sleeker metal and headrail frame is an aesthetic upgrade for many reasons. Not only does it update this traditional toilet enclosure form with a more contemporary look, but improving the overall visual balance of the system and eliminating the view of hardware from the outside of the stall all contribute toward an enclosure system that is much more aesthetically appealing. In all three restroom compartment designs available today, hardware can secure different degrees of privacy. Each system has privacy hardware and height options to improve overall aesthetic appeal.

Durability

When comparing the durability of different restroom partition systems, the focus is less on the structure of the frame and more on the material and panel construction, and how it fares in the face of the common challenges of the restroom environment. HDPE is a solid plastic material that has the color integrated consistently throughout the plastic panel. This is dramatically different construction from many of the other types of panels, such as stainless steel, which often feature a metal exterior with a honeycomb core made of cardboard. The HDPE material and its solid panel construction offer a more durable solution to each potential threat of the restroom space. Fewer clunky metal pieces of hardware also offer less opportunity for breakdown and the necessity of replacement.

The HDPE restroom partitions provide superior resistance to dents, graffiti, corrosion, mildew, moisture, and delamination. These HDPE panels and doors are also very easy to clean and naturally resistant to bacteria. Because HDPE is a solid material, rather than a material using layered production or laminates, it is less open to the material degradation common in the challenging restroom environment. The unparalleled durability of the HDPE solid plastic surface makes it a perfect fit for the harsh and high-traffic commercial restroom interior.

Sustainability

HDPE toilet partitions are made from HDPE solid plastic offers a unique solution that blends high privacy and durability in a building material that is designed to be environmentally friendly and support many important sustainable design criteria. The zero-VOC emissions rating indicates that the restroom enclosure contributes toward a healthy indoor environment throughout the life of the system and then can be substantially repurposed for additional useful lives, without requiring a resting space in the nearest local landfill. Fully recyclable and capable of containing recycled content, the toilet partition system constructed from HDPE provides a sustainably savvy solution for commercial restrooms throughout the United States.

Traditional metal pilaster systems fare much worse in terms of their support of sustainable design criteria. Rust or corrosion caused by the moisture in the restroom environment can require that the doors, pilasters, and dividers be repainted to repair the damage. New paints or coatings can negatively impact the quality of the indoor environment, and most metal and alternative material systems are not designed to include a fraction of the recycled content found in the HDPE solution. In addition, the metal restroom systems are not fully recyclable and will end up taking up a sizable amount of space in the local landfill at the end of their useful life.

The HDPE material offers an overwhelming benefit to the commercial restroom space and provides all-around superior performance when compared with the popular metal or stainless steel finishes commonly used in this area. Combining various degrees of privacy with the unparalleled performance of the HDPE material offers the commercial specification market everything it wants in one package —improved privacy experience for occupants, great looks, and the support of important sustainable design criteria.

Tips on Specifying High-Privacy in Toilet Compartments

While outfitting the restroom space was once a “copy and paste” affair, today’s restrooms offer a high degree of customizable options, better securing privacy and occupant experience. Until now, designers experienced in the specification of a commercial restrooms might quickly select the color and size of the standard pilaster-style partition and then turn to the choice of accessories or the requirements for code compliance. Specifying new, high-privacy toilet systems, including the new fully enclosed compartment systems, is not complex; it’s just new. The information needed to create private, safe, sustainable, and aesthetically pleasing commercial restrooms is readily available. The following are four key tips for specifying toilet compartments that will make an important difference to the well-being of everyone who uses them, throughout their service life.

Specify Concealed Continuous Hardware, with Inswing, or Outswing Doors

The most critical aspect of creating a high-privacy bathroom is eliminating the gaps at the door that cause the sightlines that allow people to see into and out of an occupied restroom stall. One of the best tools for creating a stall door with no open space for roving eyes or inadvertent flashing is the concealed pivot hinge. The hidden pivot hinge is located 6 to 8 inches inside the edge of the door instead of at the edge of the door where the hinges are placed in typical pilaster-based systems. This change in placement easily eliminates the gap that is created to accommodate the bulk of the edge-placed hinge.

The most critical aspect of creating a high-privacy restroom is eliminating the gaps at the door that cause the sightlines that allow people to see into and out of an occupied restroom stall. When designing for a higher privacy partition system, the best tool for creating a stall door with no open space, to avert any privacy issues, is a system combining continuous hardware and flush-fitting doors with shiplap edges. The hinge is located 6 to 8 inches inside the edge of the door instead of at the edge of the door where the hinges are placed in typical pilaster-based systems. This change in placement easily eliminates the gap that is normally created to accommodate the continuous hinge.

The continuous hardware also offers an auto-close feature with an indicator latch. This occupancy indicator makes it easier for people in the restroom to identify which stalls are unoccupied and makes it less likely that someone would forget to secure the door before getting started.

The continuous hardware is available in both inswing and outswing configurations to ensure that the hinge selection matches the intent of the design.

For fully enclosed compartments, hardware features include a shoeless pilaster design which creates a cleaner aesthetic while eliminating a spot notorious for dirt collection. A side mounted hinge design eliminates the hinge sitting on the outside of outswing doors, which is typical in the commercial restroom stall industry.

To aid a designer in specifying a high-privacy toilet compartment, the actual spec language used to craft requirements for the inclusion of continuous hinges, shiplap doors, doors, a 72-inch panel height, and a system constructed from HDPE, are all included here:

Hinges

For enhanced privacy partition system hinge hardware:

1. Edge-mounted continuous hinge
   1. Closing degree: 5 degrees
   2. Comes to a full close on its own weight

For HDPE full privacy enclosed system hinge hardware:

2. Hinges: Helix style 78 inches (1981 mm) edge mounted continuous hinge.
   1. Stainless steel: 0.09 inch (1.88 mm) thick 304-2B stainless steel using a stainless-steel pin in 0.25 inch (5.94 mm) diameter.
   2. Closing degree is minus 5 degrees. Hinge is designed to come to a full close on its own weight.

Specify Shiplap Edges

When more traditional partition systems are desired, with the latest innovations in toilet partition compartment design, it is now possible to create a smooth, flush fit between the swinging stall door and the fixed panels on either side. Specifying a shiplap edge successfully eliminates any existing sightlines that would provide visual access to the occupied enclosure. Specify that the door of the HDPE toilet compartment feature panels with shiplap edges, to overlap and provide sightline protection equally on both sides of the door.

For enhanced privacy partition system doors:

A. Doors and Panels: High density polyethylene (HDPE), fabricated from SEQ CHAPTER 1extruded polymer resins, forming single thickness panel.

1. Waterproof and nonabsorbent, with self-lubricating surface, resistant to marks by pens, pencils, markers, and other writing instruments.
2. Thickness: 1 inch (25 mm).
3. Edges: Shiplap.

For HDPE full privacy enclosed system doors:

4. Dividing Panels: Two panels stacked and secured with 3 dowels ensuring proper alignment totaling the system specified height
   • Trim: Application to hide seam gap between dividing panels.
5. Pilasters: System specified height, shoeless system secured with 3/4 inch (19 mm) long stainless steel tamper resistant helix style head screws and angled wall brackets.
6. Transom Panel: Height required to accommodate specified system height with ship lap on one edge. Mounted with four mending plates using 3/4 inch (19 mm) long stainless steel tamper resistant helix style head screws.
7. Wall Brackets: (41 inches) (54 inches) (82 inches) long, heavy-duty aluminum. Mounts to pilasters, panels and walls with 3/4 inch (19 mm) long stainless steel tamper resistant helix style head screws.

Specify an Increased Privacy Panel Height

When specifying compartments that are not fully enclosed, door and dividing panels for enclosure systems are often available in multiple heights. For partition systems, specify a high-privacy door and divider panels onto a project by selecting the total height of 72 inches or greater. These taller panels can be mounted within a range of 4 to 10 inches above the finished floor, reducing the amount of open space between the floor and the bottom of the panel and creating a more formidable barrier between the person in the stall and those on the other side. For fully enclosed compartments, heights of 112” are offered to ensure floor to ceiling coverage.

For enhanced privacy partition system door measurements:

Doors and Dividing Panels:

• Standard Privacy:
  • Height: 55 inches (1397 mm) high and mounted at 14 inches (356 mm) above the finished floor.
• High Privacy:
  • Height: 62 inches (1575 mm) high and mounted at 8 to 14 inches (203 to 356 mm) above the finished floor.
• Extra Privacy:
  • Height: 71-1/2 inches (1816 mm) high and mounted at 4 inches (102 mm) above the finished floor.

For HDPE full privacy enclosed system measurements:

System Construction:

• System Specified Height (inches / mm): 86” min to 100” max.
• System Specified Height: As determined by the Architect.
• Doors: 79 inches (2007 mm) high. Mounted 1 inch (25 mm) above finished floor.
• Doors: 71 inches (1803 mm) high. Mounted 9 inches (229 mm) above finished floor.
• Doors: 68 inches (1727 mm) high. Mounted 12 inches (305 mm) above finished floor.
• Dividing Panels: Two panels stacked and secured with 3 dowels ensuring proper alignment totaling the system specified height
• Trim: Application to hide seam gap between dividing panels.
• Pilasters: System specified height, shoeless system secured with 3/4 inch (19 mm) long stainless steel tamper resistant helix style head screws and angled wall brackets.
• Transom Panel: Height required to accommodate specified system height with ship lap on one edge. Mounted with four mending plates using 3/4 inch (19 mm) long stainless steel tamper resistant helix style head screws.
• Wall Brackets: (41 inches) (54 inches) (82 inches) long, heavy-duty aluminum. Mounts to pilasters, panels and walls with 3/4 inch (19 mm) long stainless steel tamper resistant helix style head screws.

Specify a Compartment Made of HDPE

Specify HDPE toilet compartment equipped to withstand exposure to moisture, mold and mildew, and to resist graffiti and dents. These doors and divider panels never need to be repainted or refinished to improve their color or vibrancy. The key is to select HDPE as the material of the toilet compartment instead of metal or alternative materials often found in the commercial restroom space. HDPE can be specified to contain up to 100 percent of recycled content, offering a minimum of 25 percent recycled content, and meets the fire hazard classifications most commonly required in the commercial restroom space. HDPE has been tested to pass both ASTM E84 and NFPA 286.

For enhanced privacy partition materials:

Plastic Panels: High density polyethylene (HDPE) suitable for exposed applications, waterproof, non-absorbent, and graffiti-resistant textured surface;

• Fire Rating: Not required.
• Fire-resistance Rating: Class A.
• Fire-resistance Rating: Class B.
• Fire-resistance Rating: NFPA 266.

For HDPE full privacy enclosed systems:

Doors, Panels and Pilasters:

• High density polyethylene (HDPE), fabricated from polymer resins compounded under high pressure, forming single thickness panel.
• Waterproof and nonabsorbent, with self-lubricating surface, resistant to marks by pens, pencils, markers, and other writing instruments.
• Thickness: 1 inch (25 mm) with 1/4 inch (6 mm) radiused edges. One edge of pilaster and transom panels to be ship lapped.
• Fire Rating: Not required.
• Fire Rating: Tested per ASTM E 84: Class A flame spread/smoke developed rating.
• Fire Rating: Tested per ASTM E 84: Class B flame spread/smoke developed rating.
• Fire Rating: Tested per NFPA 286: Pass.

The design and specification community finally has a solution to eliminate those sizeable sightlines from the American-made restroom stall and create toilet enclosures that offer the level of privacy that people have been enjoying in Europe and China for quite some time, without requiring the addition of extra hardware and brackets to camouflage the gap. The new designs and construction available for toilet compartments, including fully enclosed compartments, revamps the structure and style of the traditional pilaster system, swapping the bulky, rectangular-column frame for a sleeker, better balanced, and more contemporary design, and eliminating the sightlines by revolutionizing the hinge and creating clean flush closure of doors. Privacy can be customized to fit the demands of each project. Updated partition options bring innovative designs with overlapping edges, continuous edge mounted hinges and floor mounted side panels. Enhanced aesthetics allow for more design options and ease of maintenance. Constructed from the solid plastic material HDPE, toilet partitions are extremely durable and equipped to withstand the typical challenges of the commercial restroom environment, while supporting many important sustainable design and green building criteria.

Specify a toilet compartment made of HDPE to create private, beautiful, and environmentally friendly places for people to go about their business, free from privacy concerns, and then get on with the rest of their day. Now, people will be able to use a commercial restroom with no downside in sight.

Jeanette Fitzgerald Pitts has written dozens of continuing education articles for Architectural Record covering a wide range of building products and practices.

Scranton Products brands of plastic toilet compartments and lockers have dominated the market for more than a quarter of a century, setting new benchmarks for the industry in quality and innovation. Our well-known brands feature the most durable, low-maintenance, and best products in the industry. www.scrantonproducts.com.