I wonder about many thing.
Especially if that something is architectural or design related. One such moment of wondering that I want to share with you is ….. Disabled Toilets.
From a design point of view I can still quote the minimum measurement requirements for a disabled toilet from The Metric Handbook: Planning & Design Data. I can tell you the reasoning for the outward opening door; the height of the hand basin and so on and so on.
I can also have a discussion at length about badly positioned pull down nappy changing tables….. But the one point I find the hardest to fathom is the mirror.
Placing a mirror above the wash hand basin in common place, yet often missing in a disabled loo.
Instead there is often a LARGE floor to ceiling mirror (which covers all height differences in disability) instead. Which makes perfect sense, after all despite the outdated signage there are many people with disabilities who do not use a wheelchair.
I for one am one of them!
A room I can go into, lock the door and know not only does my guide dog have space to sit patiently for me; But I know that I can find my way around the room (regardless of lighting) to do what I need to do, then wash and dry my hands afterwards.
But I go back to ‘That Mirror’ …. Why is it always positioned directly beside or infront of the toilet?
Surely nobody wants or needs to see themselves at that point?
Or in my case, no-one needs to hear me scream when a glimpse of my reflection (which didn’t seem to actually be me) mid-visit panicked me to thinking someone was in the room with me!
Like I said at the very beginning, this was a ‘Blind’ moment or maybe it was even a ‘Blonde’ moment…. But for someone with minimal peripheral vision it was most certainly an ‘embarrassing’ moment.
Especially when fellow patrons were knocking on the door to offer assistance and asking if I needed medical attention!
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