The Best of Both Worlds - The Advantages of Steel Toilet Cubicles

Whether we realise it or not, most of us will be influenced in our opinions of a school, leisure centre, restaurant or indeed any organisation we visit, by the state of its washrooms. A company may have beautiful offices, superb interior design and a very upmarket corporate image - but if the washrooms are tatty, damaged and unkempt what do their own staff think, let alone visitors?

At least this is now well recognised and there have been great advances in the quality of washroom designs in recent years. However, all too often there is still a perceived trade off between aesthetics and durability. The accepted wisdom used to be that for high usage installations, or if you just want to stop the vandals, use steel cubicles - even if they do look institutional!

That is no longer the right approach. In fairness, modern plastics, laminates and phenolics can be surprising durable although it is true that nothing really matches the ultimate durability of steel. But how do you make a steel cubicle that looks even better than its supposedly more stylish rivals and give customers the best of both worlds? On the other side of the Atlantic they are a bit ahead of us in this respect. Canadian manufacturer Hadrian developed a steel toilet cubicle that won’t break, warp, flake, corrode or chip and is highly dent resistant. It has good sound insulation and is light enough to be installed by one person. It is called the Hadrian Elite Steel Toilet Cubicle and has been marketed in the UK by Relcross for many years now.

Steel is very tough but it’s heavy. It would be no good having the most robust design available if the weight was prohibitive both in use and installation. Hadrian solved this by introducing a honeycomb core that is laminated to the steel envelope under pressure. The result is a remarkably light cubicle that can be installed easily by just one person and yet is one of the toughest available. The honeycomb also provides great sound absorption and, together with the sound deadening strip on the continuous stop, helps to eliminate that cell door ‘clang’ associated with many steel cubicles.

Having sorted out the main construction using the well recognised advantages of steel to best effect, they then set about adding design flair and a degree of practicality unheard of in a steel cubicle. A standard choice of 26 powder coating colours and anti graffiti textures was added, in addition to ‘plain’ or embossed stainless steel. But if that is not enough they will match any RAL colour.

This choice has been exploited by a number of customers to achieve their design vision without compromise. The Steiner Academy in Herefordshire chose striking RAL 6018 Yellow/Green for a bright, dramatic colour that projected their environmental interests. Sustainability was also a vital aspect of the specifying philosophy and the School was impressed with Hadrian’s green credentials. Hadrian was the first in the industry to embrace environmentally friendly powder coating technology and the steel used contains a high percentage of re-cycled material.

The Putney Arts Theatre, not surprisingly, also went for a dramatic colour impact. In their case it was RAL 4007 Purple/Violet which blended perfectly with the rest of the decor. They had searched quite extensively to find a supplier that could deliver the colour scheme they had chosen, rather than just the nearest attempt.The American fast food chain Shake Shack was already familiar with Hadrian in the USA and so they sought out the UK distributor for their first UK outlet in London’s Covent Garden. They now have 7 locations in this country fitted with the full stainless steel finish which has a wow factor all of its own.

Finally, the PPHE Hotel Group is known for operating brands that offer quality with an individual style and that’s definitely true of the washrooms attached to Oaks Restaurant and Bar in Nottingham. Reviews on Tripadvisor have likened them to a Butcher’s cold storage room (without the cold, thankfully) with “Freezer” style doors and Hadrian unpainted galvannealed steel cubicles. Steel clad walls and stainless steel sink troughs complete the fittings along with bare industrial light bulbs.

These examples all show that there need not be a compromise between style and performance when it comes to toilet cubicles. It is perfectly possible to install washrooms that enhance rather than detract from the image of the organisation they serve - and without a cost penalty. The standard colour finish is not an extra and the superb durability of steel means the whole life costs of a steel toilet cubicle are very favourable indeed.

For further information call Relcross on 01380 729600, email sales@relcross.co.uk or visit www.hadrian-cubicles.co.uk