June 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 46

INCLUSIVE WELLNESS
says Kevin Noe, director of the new
West Lafayette Wellness Center.
The intentional and consistent outreach
by the parks and recreation department
and their consultant teams
has led to a new highly utilized community
facility. The Wellness Center
has succeeded in bringing the community
together and fulfilling those
well-known needs.
Non-binary Facilities
As architecture firm Perkins&Will
conducted a feasibility
study that explored design possibilities
for inclusive restroom design,
was a source of inspiration. Some
of Perkins&Will's earlier projects
in Canada with combined change
and locker areas for aquatics facilities
served as a valuable resource
for technical details and execution.
Conventional multi-fixture
restudy
in
2017, the design team was determined
that the prospective project
meet both the financial goals for
City of West Lafayette and the
needs within the community. Fast
forward to 2018, when West Lafayette
was ready to get the design of
the facility underway, the city had
just passed a resolution allowing
people to use the restroom facility
of the gender that they identified
with within public facilities. This
prompted a study of current binary
restroom design and how it functioned
in today's society. The design
team at Perkins&Will studied other
projects and research in the area of
non-binary facilities. " Stalled!, " a
strooms and locker rooms present
barriers for many groups. For
example, when children reach a
certain age, parents struggle with
letting their child go into a bathroom
alone. Other barriers include:
aging seniors who avoid leaving
their home due to privacy issues;
when parents of special needs children
or special needs adults don't
have community places and spaces
that can also accommodate them;
and people of all ages who struggle
with body confidence issues.
Perkins&Will's research uncovered
the true benefit of non-binary facilities
with enhanced privacy: the ability
to address all of these concerns.
A revised restroom design has the
ability to meet the mission of inclusivity
for City of West Lafayette and
to meet the needs of the community.
One question remained: how would
the public react to a new restroom
and locker room convention? A space
that patrons have been accustomed to
that handles some of their most private
activities suddenly looking and
functioning differently had some educational
challenges to overcome.
Overcoming Challenges
The design changed to address concerns
around privacy and security.
A key concern is the typical locker
area in which people have differing
expectations for privacy and behavior
leading to discomfort and stress.
For the design team, the importance
of delineating between private and
public space was the main challenge
- providing clear sightlines through
the locker and lavatory areas assists
users in understanding which
" zone " they are in. Visual connections
and ease of movement are central
to safety and security in the inclusive
locker rooms and restrooms.
In 2019, this design exploration was
all on paper, but not everyone was
convinced. However, the city was
confident that the facility design that
emerged would offer increased benefit
for the community.
In the completed design, handwashing
stations and locker areas
are clearly visible through glass
partitions and open connections to
the gym and aquatics center. Security
is paramount: signage clearly
marks zones for changing rooms
and showers; toilets have full-length
doors instead of stall doors. " It is
important to remember that privacy
is at the core of every conversation
about inclusive locker room
and restroom facilities: the desire
to use facilities that are easier and
safer for users - regardless of their
The pool provides multiple accessible
entry points to accommodate different
users' preferences: a chair lift, steps and
railing, and zero-depth entry.
46 Parks & Recreation | JUNE 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
June 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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