CHURCH DESIGN TOPICS PART I: RESTROOM FACILITIES

By: W. Neal Roseberry, AIA, Principal, FGM Architects

Last week, as we finished a Building Committee meeting on a project that has an older existing building, one of the committee members said, “at least we didn’t spend an hour talking about toilets this time.”  We both laughed, and I pointed out to her that toilets were still number two on the agenda.  We laughed some more at that.

For churches that are renovating or adding-on to older campuses, discussion on the “basic necessities” can take-up a surprising amount of time.  There’s an obvious reason this is true: older buildings are not accessible to today’s building code standards.  But apart from making a building functional for church-goers with disabilities—something every church recognizes—the support spaces like toilet rooms that are used every Sunday are a quick and clear message sent to every building user on the vitality, health, welcoming nature, and even the environmental consciousness of a church.

I suspect that if we are long-time members in a church, many of us don’t even notice such things. We have aged in-place right along with our church environment.  Church members adapt and “work-around” rather than undertake the pain and expense of renovation, and this is understandable.  But if you haven’t touched your major public toilet facilities in the last 25 years, we can categorically say, “it’s time.”

Necessities

Here are some “necessities” to think about if you have an older church campus:

  1. HC Accessibility.  Doorways, stalls, sink clearances and approaches, mirror and dispenser heights, grab bars, and insulated pipes.  All of these things are standardized in public buildings today, but in older buildings can vary greatly.  Hopefully, your church has at least one truly handicapped-accessible toilet immediately adjacent to your major worship and fellowship areas.  To have less is to send all of the wrong messages to your membership and visitors alike.
  2. Ventilation.  Older buildings often don’t have the air-exchange that newer codes require.  The result can be a toilet room that smells like a toilet room. Uggh.  What kind of message about your church is that?
  3. More “green” devices and fixtures.  Public toilet rooms today have motion sensors to turn lights on and off, lower water volume fixtures, and motion sensors on toilets and urinals. Features that at one time we may have associated with ballparks and airports are now part of the plumbing code, and used in all new church designs.  If you have an older building, you can significantly reduce your water and lamp usage by retrofitting fixtures and adding motion sensors.  This can be especially important if your church is on a septic system, but is “green” thinking regardless.
  4. Family toilets. If space allows, consider a dedicated “family toilet,” so that both moms and dads can change a diaper in a more private environment.  In larger new churches, this is even a code requirement. In older churches, it can provide an indication that your church values young families with children.  And these rooms are also useful for older members, who may have mobility issues and desire greater privacy.
  5. Location.  Can a visitor find the restroom, or is it down the hall and around the corner.  Don’t simply ask, “can it be found,” ask “is it convenient?”
  6. Overall environment.  As suggested above, no matter how warm and friendly the folks greeting you at church are, when you visit the restroom, especially with a child in-tow, there is a message sent about the health and environment of your church.  Again, we suggest the 25 year rule at a minimum: just how old, dated, and hard-to-use are your facilities?

As I assured the building committee member earlier this week, it may not be the most scintillating topic of design discussion, but the restrooms do matter.  They’re something everyone uses at some point in time, and they send both overt and subliminal messages about the health and vitality of your church.

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