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The Blurring of Hospitality & Commercial
As workspace requirements have developed, commercial interiors are increasingly borrowing hospitality principles to create spaces people want to spend time in. This shift has been driven by changing employee expectations as offices have become places not only to work but environments designed to support wellbeing and experience.
Commercial interiors are therefore becoming softer and more welcoming, experience led as well as functional, focused on emotional comfort and aligned visually with hospitality aesthetics. So how is this achievable within a commercial washroom?
Premium Materials & Tactile Finishes
Practicality in commercial washrooms has always been prioritised but only focusing on durability, ease of maintenance and compliance have led to spaces that feel soulless and visually disconnect from the wider interior scheme. By improving the look and feel of accessible washrooms and ensuring they are not an afterthought, users feel calmer, more comfortable and most importantly, more considered.
Taking inspiration from hospitality washrooms, it’s important to incorporate warmer palettes, tactile finishes, softer lighting, coordinated accessories and seamless detailing and integration. Combining these design elements with quality products, functionality and compliance will offer a more thoughtful balance between experience and performance.
Credit: Tile of Spain
Look at the Overall Experience
Even though it is one of the most frequently shared spaces in an office environment, the workplace washroom is often overlooked during the design process. However, poorly considered bathrooms can undermine the whole interior, so it’s vital to reinforce attention to
detail and investment in employee wellbeing by designing a workplace washroom as you would any other space.
As commercial design increasingly focuses on comfort, wellness and emotional connection, a well-considered inclusive washroom will help employers stand out by offering a better workplace experience, help businesses strengthen their wellbeing strategies and overall, meet end user expectations.
Credit: Tile of Spain
The Rise of Wellness
The hospitality sector has majorly contributed to the growing awareness and need for wellness-inspired spaces both in the residential and commercial industry. Designers are moving away from stark, clinical interiors towards more restorative and nurturing environments.
To encourage wellbeing in an inclusive commercial washroom, trends such as softer lighting, textured surfaces, natural finishes, calm colour palettes, greenery and spa-inspired detailing all help to elevate the experience for the user. In addition, when it comes to inclusivity, helping the user feel as comfortable as possible by supplying the correct compliant and coordinated accessible bathroom solutions all contributes to a more relaxed and thoughtful bathroom – whilst still blending into the wider scheme.
Credit: Tile of Spain
Our Checklist
A key factor which commercial design can take from the hospitality sector is that a good user experience should be universal. The best washroom environments are intuitive, welcoming and comfortable for everyone – so architects, specifiers and designers can apply this same style of thinking to commercial spaces.
Here are our key takeaways for design:
Material selection
Integrated accessibility
Lighting & atmosphere
Calm colour palette
Durability & maintenance
Quality & performance
Cohesion with workplace interiors
As commercial washrooms evolve, Fitzroy of London supports specifiers, architects and designers with solutions that help bridge the gap between accessibility and contemporary commercial design. Our approach is to offer integrated inclusive products that seamlessly fit into high-quality interior schemes.
