LIGHTING A PUBLIC RESTROOM

Randall Whitehead, public restroom lighting — Public restrooms don’t have to have bad lighting. Here are some examples of good lighting.

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I have had this thing about the lighting quality of public restrooms in the United States ever since visiting Amsterdam. There, the facilities are all-gender. The stalls have doors that go all the way to the floor and the lighting at the sinks is quite flattering. They are the ultimate “clean, well-lighted spaces.”

As I travel across this country, the quality varies greatly. Some are diamonds. Some are diamonds in the rough…and most are just rough. I am now going to report back what I have found. Admittedly these observations are male-based, because visiting the restrooms marked FEMALE is frowned upon.

Much of the lighting here in the USA, is soul-sucking. There are still a lot of fluorescents being used, and those that have LED are using a cool color temperature with a low Color Rendering Index (CRI). This deadly combination leaches the color out of your face and makes these rest areas feel like the set of one of the “SAW” movies.

bad men's room lighting — Typical public men’s room lighting. Photo: Randall Whitehead.

This is your typical men’s room illumination scenario (shown above). Recessed fluorescents draining all the life out of you as you enter. It has a prison-like quality. Have I been to prison, you ask? The answer is yes. But it was women’s prison and that is a story for another time.

Who decided that this was the default way to illuminate a public restroom? Now is the time to break the cycle of abusive lighting.

back lit mirrors in a restroom, Randall Whitehead — The color temperature is a little cool and the CRI is 85, when it should be 90 or higher, but it is a step in the right direction. Photo: Randall Whitehead

I am happy to report that there are some bright spots of decent lighting. These mirrors at the sinks are back illuminated (shown below). Its not a huge amount of illumination but it does evenly illuminate your face.

I can’t tell you how pleasantly surprised I was when I saw the lighting for the newly remodeled Harvey Milk Terminal One at San Francisco International Airport. There was tasteful cross-illumination at the bank of sinks, as well as a full-length back lit mirror. There were also these wonderful ovoid LED pendants at the entry. What an amazing difference well designed lighting can make.