Edinburgh’s
historic city centre is delivering optimum accessibility with the
opening of a new pub by Waverley Station.
JD
Wetherspoon has spent some £2.4million revitalising the site, which
was formerly a Chinese buffet, into The Booking Office. And the new
venue features a Changing Places assisted accessible toilet, the only
one of its kind in a pub in the vicinity.
Supplied
and installed by Clos-o-Mat, Britain’s leading supplier of toilet
solutions for disabled people, the Changing Places means that
families and carers with adults and children who need help with
personal care can now enjoy doing the sort of activities most people
take for granted- including having a drink and a meal out. It
compliments conventional female, male and wheelchair-accessible
facilities at the pub, and has been specifically designed to be
easily accessible, by the main bar area of the pub.
The
Changing Places toilet gives users more space than a conventional
wheelchair accessible toilet, plus an adult-sized height adjustable
changing bench and hoist. Without it, users would have to cut a trip
short, not go there at all, or face the prospect of having to lie on
the toilet floor to be changed.
“The
Booking Office is in a prime location, so was an obvious candidate
for the inclusion of a Changing Places toilet. JD Wetherspoon has a
reputation in the leisure industry for the high standard of its
toilet facilities, and for being an innovator: we were the first
chain to open a non-smoking bar, and are the first to include
Changing Places,” explained JD Wetherspoon’s Paul Gillings. “It
means that many disabled people visiting the city will now be able to
properly relax and enjoy their trip, knowing they have appropriate
toilets.”
Added
Kelvin Grimes, Clos-o-Mat Changing Places project manager, “Most of
us don’t give access to toilets a thought, we just assume if we go
for a drink or a meal, we can use the facilities. But if you need
help, that’s not the case. JD Wetherspoon is unique in the
hospitality sector in understanding how suitable toilets influence
people’s decision to visit, and catering for everyone’s needs by
including Changing Places as widely as possible.”
A
Changing Places toilet is now ‘desirable’ under Building
Regulations Approved Document M 2015, and BS8300:2009, for all new
build and refurbishment projects involving buildings to which numbers
of the public have access. So far, over 850 Changing Places have
been opened at venues across the country.
Clos-o-Mat
is the leading player in the supply and installation of Changing
Places facilities. Its ability to deliver design advice, project
management, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance
across the ambit of accessible toileting equipment means it is
uniquely provide a reliable, single source for the whole process.
Further, its website www.clos-o-mat.com,
is an essential reference point for anyone considering installing a
Changing Places toilet, offering white paper, 2D and 3D CAD drawings,
standard layouts, and video.
