Office toilet design requirements

You can have a lot of fun with the aesthetics of office toilet design but there are HSE layout requirements we must adhere to. 

There are a large number of cubicles in the UK that are difficult to enter and to address this issue BS 6465 now asks for designers to show a cylindrical volume 450mm in diameter clear of all obstructions, such as toilet pan, door swing, etc., to give the user room to close the door.

A WC cubicle in an office were the user is unlikely to have luggage or be wearing heavy clothing so the following ‘standard’ dimensions and layouts can be used:

Image A – ‘standard’ layout
Image B – alternative layout with sanitary bin

Both images show a cubicle with an inward opening door and a 450mm diameter space to enter the cubicle.  The orange area denotes the activity space required once the cubicle door is shut, and the width is also suitable for ambulant disabled users. WC cubicle doors typically open inwards, with the exception of disabled and ambulant disabled cubicles.

In image B the toilet pan is offset towards the door hinge side to provide space for a sanitary bin.  In this case the depth can be reduced to 1550mm.

The width of a ‘standard’ cubicle is seen as 800mm, however a lot of women find this too narrow and prefer a width of 900mm with an 800mm door opening.