RESTROOM DESIGNS - The Truth Is In The Loo |
Wednesday, 12 November 2008 |
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Bathroom, washroom, toilet, powder room, ladies’/men’s room, whatever
we call it, it is the one place in any public or semi-public place —
including restaurants, hotels, concert halls, clubs or bars — that
really tells what the entire establishment is all about.
Sometimes it may be possible to fake customer care, cool or luxury at
the front end, but the truth is always revealed in the loo. If the
bathrooms are ordinary, filthy or in poor repair — or all three — you
can be sure that the whole concept is just surface glare, without
substance and without true respect of the guests.
Just as the owners’ attitudes are reflected in the staff they or their
managers hire, their true values and beliefs are revealed in the places
that get overlooked in poorly executed concepts: parking garages, coat
checks, kitchens, and most visibly and most commonly, bathrooms.
It continues to baffle us why it is not obvious that the experience of
going to a concert or dining at a restaurant includes the entire
experience, not just parts of it. The divine food in a restaurant or
the concert at a venue has a lot to cover up if the journey to your
seat was poor agony. We have all had experiences like this: You were
scared in the car park, got soaked in the line-up outside, had your wet
coat crushed and your scarf dropped at the coat check, and when you
proceeded to freshen up in the bathroom, it was completely uninspiring,
poorly lit, ill-equipped and stinky. You are disappointed, but not
surprised. It has happened too often.
Which is why we are glad that bathrooms are starting to get some
serious design attention. There is so much room to impress and surprise
that it is amazing everyone isn’t doing something about it. It is one
huge untapped opportunity. Because most of us have been so thoroughly
underwhelmed hundreds of times, our expectations are quite low to start
with.
Owners and designers of such places have an unprecedented chance to
surprise, please and pamper us, and to show that they really mean
business all the way through.
We are hoping that we will be seeing much more of great bathroom design
and that there will be fewer disappointments in your future. Let us
know when that happens. - Tuija Seipell
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