Page 23 - College Planning & Management, June 2019

Facilities CAMPUS SPACES
RENDERING COURTESY OF KWK ARCHITECTS
21st-Century Residence Hall Restrooms
Privacy, durability, and sustainability are on trend for today’s residence hall restrooms.
BY JAVIER ESTEBAN AND MEGHAN BOGENER
WHILE THE BASICS OF sustainability, aesthet- ics, and functionality remain the hallmarks of any good design, more universities today are request-
ing bathroom designs that reflect student social trends related to personal safety, privacy, and preserving the environment.
Privacy and Gender Neutrality
Bathrooms have become a 21st-century civil rights issue as more universities are specifying gender-neutral bathrooms in residence halls to accommodate student identity and privacy. While it may be a hotly debated national topic, more universities
are requesting restroom designs that are void of any gender catego- rization and provide complete privacy to the student, no matter which gender they choose to identify with.
KWK Architects recently designed gender-neutral restrooms for the new Williams Village East residence hall currently under construction at the University of Colorado Boulder. Rather than having traditional “men’s” and “women’s” restrooms, each floor in the residence hall has a cluster of private restrooms that can be used by anyone. Each private restroom has a lockable door, floor- to-ceiling partitions, and enough space for changing clothes, plus a private toilet, urinal, shower, and sink.
JUNE 2019 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 23