Nottingham University ESLC: toilets

Info date: April 2013.

Ground floor toilets at Engineering & Science Learning Centre, University Park, inc description and pictures of wheelchair-accessible one.

The main entrance takes you straight into the atrium.

Inside the Atrium. On the left, about level with the lift column, an archway is labelled "Wheelchair toilet". At the far end, routes lead off to left and right, marked "Ways in to lecture room".

The wheelchair-accessible toilet is slightly off the atrium, in the stairwell off the left-hand wall.

Photo: In the foreground, to the right, is the vertical edge of a metal and glass column (for the lift). Ahead is the space to the left of the lift. Along the left hand wall, nearest is a light-coloured wooden door to the men's toilet. Next is an archway, with light-coloured wooden panelling all around. An arrow added to the photo indicates that this leads to "Wheelchair toilet". At the back of the space is a corridor going off to the left. An arrow added to the photo labels this as "Lecture room". A few blue office-type chairs and collapsible tables are near the lift column.

The men’s toilets are directly off the left-hand atrium wall. The ladies’ is opposite the men’s, on the right. As far as I know, the only gender-neutral one is the wheelchair-accessible one.

Wheelchair-accessible toilet

As you leave the atrium into the stairwell, the stairs are ahead of you, the toilet door is to your left, and as you open the door to go into the toilet room, you’re heading in the same direction as the stairs. (In other words, you turn left and then right to be facing the toilet door.)

Photo: to the right, the beginning of a flight of stairs. Ahead, a door of light-coloured wood. The handle is on the right hand side of the door. It's the push-down type. A dark blue sign on the door shows a wheelchair icon in white.

The toilet door opens towards you. It’s sprung, and middling stiff.

Photo: the top part of an open door, showing the spring unit attached to the door. It looks like a small metal box stuck to the top of the door, with a thin, flat metal bar emerging from it and attaching to the door-frame.

Views of the room (see alt text for descriptions):

Photo: looking in through the door of a toilet room. On the left hand wall is a mirror above a white swing-top bin. Adjacent to the mirror is a dispenser for paper towels. The towels are on a reel and emerge from the bottom of the unit. Next to that is a radiator. On the back wall, from left to right, is a vertical bar, then another vertical bar which can drop down, then the toilet itself. The toilet has a seat but no lid, and instead of the lid, a fixed narrow cushion to lean back on. On the right hand wall, there's a horizontal bar, and above it, a toilet roll dispenser. Nearer to the door, there's a small basin, with a mirror above it. To the right of the mirror is a soap dispenser. Left of the mirror, and right of the soap dispenser, there are two horizontal bars. Nearest the door is a dark grey hand dryer, of the type where you put your hands in from the top. On the floor near the toilet are a bin for sanitary towels and a brush for cleaning the toilet.

To the left as you sit on the loo, just right of the loo roll dispenser, a red cord dangles from the ceiling. Pulling on this should call help in an emergency.

Photo: A red cord dangles to the left of a basin. It has one red plastic triangle attached a little bit higher than the basin, and another red plastic triangle a few inches off the floor.

The basin tap is the kind you push down on the top to start.

The grey thing in the foreground of this photo is a noisy hand dryer.

Photo: a light-coloured wall to the right. Attached to the wall near to the camera is a hand dryer. It's mainly of grey plastic. It is shaped so that two hands can be put in it from the top. A yellow line outlines two shallow archways where the two hands are meant to go. On the wall further away from the camera is a small basin with one tap. The tap is the kind which you push down on the top to start. Above the basin is a mirror, and to the right of the mirror, a soap dispenser. The soap dispenser is white. It's the kind where you push on a flap at the bottom front, while holding your hand underneath it for the soap to drip out. To the left of the mirror and to the right of the soap dispenser, vertical bars are attached to the wall, for holding onto. To the left of the basin and vertical bar, there's a red emergency cord to pull if you need help. It has one red plastic triangle attached a little bit higher than the basin, and another red plastic triangle a few inches off the floor. Further away and a little to the left, a toilet can be seen. Near the toilet, on the same wall as the basin, is a horizontal bar to hold onto, at about waist height if you were sitting on the toilet. Above it is a loo roll dispenser of transparent dark-grey plastic. It's the enclosed kind where the loo roll is meant to dangle out of the bottom.

Photo: A mirror is on a light-coloured wall to the left. On the floor below the mirror is a white flip-top bin. To the right of the mirror is a dispenser for paper towels. It's dark grey and transparent so that you can see through it to the roll of paper towels inside. They come out at the bottom. To the right of that is a white radiator, then the corner of the room. Reflected in the mirror is a toilet.

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