The fitting out of buildings with washrooms may seem to some to be a straightforward affair, but great thought needs to be given to what each kind of building needs. The requirements of a school, a leisure centre, an office complex, or a hotel will all be significantly different.
Among other considerations, you might include a bathroom vanity unit combination pack in a hotel, but not in a public library or a school.
In the past, such decisions might usually have only been made once. Building conversions usually involved smaller-scale adaptations, such as transforming a barn into a holiday cottage, in which case the fitting of washroom facilities would be taking place for the first time.
Why Are Older Buildings Being Renovated Instead of Getting Replaced?
However, in recent years, there has been an increasing propensity for larger buildings to be converted instead of demolished. Offices have become residences or hotels, while old mills and power plants, no longer churning out textiles or energy, have been adapted for a wide range of new uses.
Prime examples have included Battersea Power Station. The iconic London landmark benefited from being a listed building, which meant it could not be demolished after it ceased to generate energy in 1982. Now, it is a residential-led mixed-use development at the heart of the huge Nine Elms project.
However, in recent years, there has been a wider drive towards reusing and repurposing existing buildings, either in their current shape or by extending them, instead of demolishing them and building from scratch.
Backed by bodies like the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), this approach has taken into account the concept of ‘embedded carbon’ in construction, which takes into account the emissions involved in the whole life cycle of a building, including its construction and demolition.
This concept also factors in the emissions involved in a new construction project, with the conclusion being that retaining and modifying an existing building produces lower emissions overall.
How Is Reinvention Being Recognised?
A consequence of this is that buildings will commonly be refitted and RIBA launched its own ‘Reinvention Award’ last year, recognising excellence in design as building conversions become an increasingly important element of architectural work.
The quality of such reinvention matters so much because on it lies the success of this drive towards re-use instead of demolition. If conversions are half-baked and fail to meet the building’s new user needs as well as a custom new build, the idea will soon fall out of favour, while the public and companies will be less likely to use the converted buildings.
Hotels are a prime case of this, as guests will expect quality, comfort and a taste of luxury, especially in more expensive hotels.
On the one hand, reusing an old building enables some charming elements to be incorporated into it, such as legacy items that act as a reminder of the building’s former use (a water wheel in an old mill, for instance). On the other hand, the old washroom facilities will be unsuitable for the building’s new use.
What Does A Hotel Need In Its Washrooms?
Among the reasons for transforming washroom facilities will be:
- The need for individual washrooms and bathrooms for each room
- A reduced need for washrooms for multiple users, except possibly on the ground floor around the dining and reception areas
- The need for washrooms to be luxurious and not merely functional
- Colour schemes to match the hotel livery
- Attractive extras, such as vanity units
Among the buildings where a major conversion is taking place is St Clement’s House in the City of London, close to Wren’s Monument. This building is Grade II listed, so it cannot be demolished, but planning permission has been granted for a four-storey rooftop extension to be added.
The end result will be a 180-room Marriott Hotel, with the facilities not just including a place to stay, but also a ground floor public space, restaurant, bar and café. These elements will also need appropriate washroom facilities, which will differ both those when the building housed offices and those to be provided for the hotel guests on the floors above.
Developer Chart Forte and architects Studio Moren have focused strongly on developing a building with a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rated environmental performance and a firm focus on the concept of reinvention, including the restoration of some of the 19th-century building’s original features that have been lost over time.
However, for guests, the ultimate verdict on their stay will depend much on how well the functionality of a central London office has been replaced with modern hotel luxury. The washroom provision will play no small part in that.
No doubt vanity units will help in this endeavour, enabling guests to enjoy a hotel every bit as pleasant to stay in as a building constructed specifically for the purpose.
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