Specialist in Commercial
Bath Renovations

Top 3 Considerations for College Dorm Bathroom Design

November 22, 2014

Clean and functional college dormitory bathrooms are just as important to the appeal and reputation of your educational institution as extracurricular activities and availability of healthy food options. Both parents and students these days consider living conditions and student halls as one of the factors in choosing the right college. In fact, in the 2013 national survey of U.S. freshmen, a visit to the campus ranked #5 on the list of reasons to attend a particular university or college. To put this in perspective, college rankings were #12 and on the top of the list was institution’s academic reputation.

Thankfully, it’s entirely up to you what your prospective students will see during that campus visit. Communal bathrooms in colleges are already subjects of scary stories and even dorm survival guides. And when a single room is shared by 30-plus students, it’s understandable why these stories and guides exist. However, the modern trend in dorm bathroom design is toward more apartment-style bathrooms with just several students sharing a single bathroom instead of the entire student hall floor. You might already be incorporating this layout in the new student halls being built, but what about the older student housing?

Converting Old Student Housing

Remodeling old student housing to accommodate new, more spacious and less communal bathrooms is a challenge. And here are the top three things to consider when you plan your student bathroom remodeling project.

ADA Compliance

We’ve talked about ADA-compliant bathroom remodeling in one of our previous posts, so feel free to revisit it for more details. In short, you have to make sure that your remodeled bathrooms can easily accommodate students with a wide range of disabilities. Not only will this bring your student housing up to code, but it will also make your dormitories appealing to a larger pool of students. If your dorms haven’t been remodeled prior to 2010, they could be in violation of the new ADA standards that came into effect that year. While you don’t have to ensure immediate compliance, when you renovate the bathrooms, new standards should be followed.

Privacy and Security

The more you can make your dormitory bathrooms feel like home away from home, the more your students will enjoy living on campus. Privacy and security are two big concerns when it comes to communal bathrooms—most students who grew up with a private bathroom will have to give up a little bit of both. To make students feel safe and comfortable in a shared bathroom, the bathroom design has to be carefully thought through. From secure locks on the bathroom stalls to convenient hooks for towels and clothing next to showers, these little things can make the biggest difference.

Ease of Maintenance

It’s no secret that communal showers are one of the germiest places on a college campus. The sheer volume of use they receive, combined with bad hygiene and poor bathroom etiquette some students exhibit, make showering a terrifying experience for any germaphobe. Meanwhile, keeping the dorm bathrooms clean is necessary not only for usability reasons, but also to prevent spreading of potentially harmful bacteria. In a densely populated community like that of a college campus, diseases can spread quickly from student to student.

Designing college bathrooms with ease of maintenance in mind means choosing materials that will withstand not only frequent use, but also frequent cleaning. Acrylic shower liners are perfect for this job and won’t break the bank. And if you are looking for someone to perform the installation, you can rely on Ward Enterprise for quality student housing bathroom remodeling. Located in Maryland and serving the Mid-Atlantic region, we have helped many colleges upgrade their dated dormitories.

Call us today at 410-444-4200 or contact online for a free consultation.