SB 4150 Web

Washrooms & Cubicles
Practical plumbing for 21st century schools
Traditional washroom design is broken
Students with disabilities are held at a disadvantage with multiple doors, traditional
sinks at inconvenient heights, space constraints with standard cubicles, and even
separate facilities.
Solid doors also prevent passive supervision, facilitating bullying and vandalism with 21%
of schools saying bullying was a problem in their toilets, and more than 1 in 10 students
staying at home to avoid using the toilets. World class schools need world class
washrooms, and we would like to offer our best practices based on the Department for
Education Guidelines.
5 School Washroom Best Practices based on DfE Guidelines
Washtroughs - "Wash troughs are preferable to individual wash basins – they are easier to
clean, aesthetically more pleasing, and reduce the potential for pupils to flood the toilets."
Floor To Ceiling Cubicles - "Although passive supervision of common areas is important,
there should not be views directly into the cubicles that would compromise pupil privacy."
Aural Privacy - "Aural privacy is also important. The proposal is to increase the background noise within the toilet facility to a level of 55dB (A).
No Urinals - "It is better if the use of urinals is avoided in school environments, since research has shown that at puberty, boys’ use of urinals is
problematic."
Passive Supervision - "The space within the toilet facility needs to be kept to a minimum, and hand-washing facilities should be made visible
and potentially unisex by being moved out of the cubicle area as a direct extension to the circulation space."
Based on the advice given by the Department for Education around best practice in school washrooms including the open plan concept, Lovair
developed the LatherWash.
Designed to fit perfectly within both open plan and traditional washrooms, it can be used throughout a variety of new build & refurbishment
projects. As a hand washing solution, it provides many benefits over traditional vanities or ceramic basins from encouraging handwashing,
through to space saving, and quick installation. Constructed solely from Corian, and supported by a steel bracket system, our Wash Trough is
robust, and comes with a 5 year guarantee.
Download our free guide to creating the Ultimate School Washroom - http://bit.ly/2o6Fjpu
Geberit has provided a total plumbing solution at Gwenfro Primary School in
Wrexham, which has undergone a £4.9 million makeover funded by the Welsh
Government’s 21st Century Schools and Education Programme.
Twyford products installed include an air button dual flush concealed cistern, helping to save
water and contributing to the BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. In addition, Twyford E100 round
basins incorporating Sola non concussive taps were chosen, with the push button action
preventing water wastage by turning off automatically – well-suited to public bathrooms, and
easy for children to use.
Twyford’s Sola school rimless WCs, both closed and open fronted, have been installed
throughout the new facilities. Rimless pans offer optimised hygiene and easier cleaning; key
for high volume areas where pupil health and safety is paramount. The open fronted models
have been designed for younger children, ideal for nursery and early years’ pupils.
Gwenfro also includes on ambulant Doc M cubicle, featuring Twyford’s Avalon back-to-wall
rimless WC and grab rails. The grab rails are in a contrasting colour to ensure ease of use for
partially sighted users, as well as those with mobility issues.
Apart from Twyford, all plumbing (heating, hot and potable water) comes courtesy of Geberit
Mepla multi-layered pipe, which combines the advantages of synthetic and metallic materials. Corrosion-resistant and light, Geberit Mepla is more
inherently stable and durable than plastic pipes. Enabling fast work progress and subsequent economic advantages Geberit Mepla also ensures peace
of mind as it is permanently leak proof.
“We were very keen on the idea of getting everything from one source and we haven’t been disappointed. The quality, ease of installation, availability
of the supply chain and customer support is excellent,” said John Roberts from Margden Heating, the plumbing and heating installers at Gwenfro.
“Margden has been installing Geberit Mepla for a number of years; its speed and efficiency is ideal for the school environment. Using Twyford has
been a new experience for us. We’re extremely happy with the results”. Providing a one-stop solution for piping and washrooms, Geberit and Twyford
offer the ideal combination for today’s school projects where time constraints, budget considerations, sustainability, downtime and the practicality of
the end product are all high on the agenda.
www.geberit.co.uk
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Summer 2O17 4150