Quote:
Originally Posted by Thinker
I have wondered the same thing for a long, long time. They can even put a couple of sinks just outside between the two doors for people who are coming in solely to wash their hands. I do that quite a bit when pumping gas.
You walk up and see a little recessed area out of the way. Outside are 2-3 sinks. To the left is a door (similar to an airplane door) that holds a toilet and sink. To the right, the same.
Ta da....
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I think this would be a good idea, and you really could make it work. I was thinking that it would be difficult because public washrooms are usually made as such to serve as many people as possible at once (large men's/women's washrooms with multiple stalls vs. one-person washrooms). But then I was thinking that if a more European model was put into place you could probably pull it off.
In Germany and Holland (probably the rest of western Europe as well) washroom stalls aren't like in Canada where there's a huge space under the door and big spaces in between the hinges/wall (always hated that). They're more like the stalls in airplanes where the unit is completely closed off so you can't see out/no one can see in. Completely private.
If you follow that model of stall instead of the typical North American stall which might invite voyeurs etc. there is nothing stopping from having washrooms out in the open without being closed off into male/female washrooms. Just have a series of entirely closed off stalls with an occupied/unoccupied sign like planes/trains without the group of stalls being hidden away in a separate room[s].
This isn't entirely unprecedented either. I did see some similar concepts in some German cities and in Holland: outdoor urinals. Basically, in the middle of a city square or whatnot there would be a cluster of outdoor, plastic urinals (urinals forming a triangular or similar cluster so that the backs of the urinals were facing each other, and walls on the side of each urinal more concealing than normal). This way people didn't need to go into a store or something to use the washroom. Also saw some dixies in town squares without male/female signs.
I really do think this could be done on a larger scale, and would make a lot more sense than hidden gender restricted washrooms. It would also be safer because would-be offenders would not have the luxury of hiding behind walls when entering the washroom of the opposite sex, because there would just be a row of single user dixie-like stalls.