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.