When Culture Outpaces Code: A Design Perspective on All-Gender Restrooms

Gender-neutral restroom sign designed by Signworks for a Gensler project. Image © Gensler

Whether you call it a restroom, bathroom, toilet, water closet or washroom, it’s the space we all prefer to have the most privacy and security. Yet the restroom is having an over-exposed moment.

The gender-neutral restroom movement is in full swing, and cleverly hybrid signs that stitch together dresses and pants are everywhere we turn. Incorporating gender-inclusive restrooms in public places is as simple as that, right? You just put up a new sign.

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Why Corporate Bathrooms Stink and How Good Design Can Fix This

Bathrooms in hotels, restrooms and even airports tend to carry a touch of class that bathrooms in corporate offices so often lack. Pictured above: a ladies room in SFO Terminal 2. Image © Bruce Damonte.

When I started my career, I never thought I would spend so much time talking about corporate bathrooms. But the truth is people feel passionately about them. They might be the most underappreciated and most necessary spaces in the workplace. Everyone has to go there (no giggles please), and the experience usually falls somewhere between bland and horrifying. It’s no wonder that so many people I talk to on projects—from executive leaders to employees—bring up bathrooms as one of their top complaints.

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