Super pub gets super loo

A new ‘super pub’- believed to be the biggest in the UK- has opened, complete with a ‘super loo’!

The 16,500 sq ft Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate is the result of a £4.5m investment by leading pub chain JD Wetherspoon, and revitalises a Grade II listed former casino on the seafront.

Its doors will be open to all- the venue includes one of Closomat’s Changing Places assisted accessible toilets, for people who need more space, and/or equipment when they need the loo away from home.

The Royal Pavilion is the latest Wetherspoons to feature one of the toilets, which offers more space than a conventional wheelchair-accessible toilet- 12m2- and, on top of the usual fixtures, incorporates a ceiling track hoist, height adjustable adult-sized changing bench, privacy screen, and height adjustable washbasin. It compliments the standard toilet facilities, and is conveniently located alongside the other washrooms on the ground floor.

Architect Barry Goacher of KDPaine & Associates said: “JDWetherspoon has a established, ongoing commitment to providing quality venues- right through to the toilets, indeed it has won several Loo of the Year Awards. It was therefore a key element of our brief in designing the new pub to ensure that reputation was maintained, and that a Changing Places was included so the pub’s doors would be truly open to all.”

Adds Closomat’s Claire Haymes, away from home specialist: “Without the space and facilities a Changing Places provides, potentially up to 14million people- and their carers- in the UK can’t find, or use- suitable toilets when away from home. They may need help to be lifted out of a wheelchair, they may need extra space for someone else to be in there and help them, they may need changing. JD Wetherspoon is the only major pub chain committed to providing the facilities in as many of its venues as possible.”

Under Building Regulations and British Standards, a Changing Places toilet is ‘desirable’ in buildings to which numbers of the public have access. Since their introduction a decade ago, 1000 have been opened across the UK. Venues include several JD Wetherspoon pubs, most UK major airports, stations, Alton Towers,wildlife parks and other tourist attractions.

Closomat is Britain’s leading provider of helpful toileting solutions, at home and away, including Changing Places and their similar Space to Change facilities. Uniquely, the company can provide an in-house, ‘one- stop-shop’ complete package for ‘away from home’ assisted accessible toilet facilities, from design and commissioning, through to project management, supply and installation, and can also provide subsequent maintenance and repair.

Its website is the most comprehensive resource available about Changing Places for campaigners, providers and specifiers alike, with a raft of support information including white papers, calling cards, CAD blocks, NBS specifications, video and case studies.