Accessible toilets at Sheffield Town Hall
4
4
Date of visit: September 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Good
I had gone into Sheffield Town Hall looking for a Changing Places toilet. When I spoke to a member of staff, they weren’t familiar with the term Changing Places Toilet, but they directed me to a large accessible toilet I could use. I’m not sure if the Changing Places toilet is no longer available here or if that member of staff just wasn’t familiar with it. But I also didn’t see any alternative signage suggesting there might be one. The accessible toilet I found was quite large and, due to the nature of the building, had the fanciest door I’ve ever seen!
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
As I approached the Town Hall, there was a set of stairs in the centre and two ramps on either side leading to the main entrance. There was then a long ramp with a grab rail and automatic doors at the top leading inside. There was a member of staff as soon as I entered, who was able to assist me. The flooring when I first entered was a beautiful, smooth tiled mosaic design. I was then shown along a carpeted corridor to the accessible toilet. The carpet provided some resistance when I was pushing my wheelchair over it, but it was manageable. It then turned back into the mosaic design as I approached the toilet. As I was only looking for the toilets I only saw a small part of the building. They definitely had lifts available to access other areas but I'm unsure if the whole building had step-free access.
Accessible facilities: Lift to some areas, Step-free entrance
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
The City Hall tram stop is roughly 300 metres away from the Town Hall. From this stop, you can access trams on the blue and yellow services. The yellow services travel between Middlewood and Meadowhall. The blue services travel between Malin Bridge and Halfway. The closest bus stops are located on Arundel Gate which is about 350 metres away. There are a large number of stops located on both sides of Arundel Gate but the ones closest to the Peace Gardens and the buses available from them are: Arundel Gate (AG10): 20, 24, 25, 43, 44 and X17 gold Charles Street (CS4): 24, 25, 120, 120k, 252 and SC2 Charles Street (CS3): 30, 30a, 52, 52a, 95, 95s, X1, X2, X6, X7 and X30. The area is mainly pedestrianised so there aren’t many good options for parking or drop-off.
Accessible Toilets
Good
The toilet door was slightly heavy and opened outwards. It had a small, fixed, vertical grab rail that was at a good height for most people to reach. The door had a really ornate design, which was quite cool! Inside, there was both a horizontal grab rail and a vertical grab rail on the door. The horizontal rail may have been too high for some to reach, so the vertical rail provided a lower option that could still assist with shutting the door from the inside. The lock was a twist lock and it had a small, thin bar that you twisted to lock the door. Those using an elbow, fist or with reduced dexterity may find that the bar was too small to twist in this particular instance. The toilet was quite long so there was lots of room inside it. The toilet had space for a left-side transfer, but there were two bins that had been left in the space that could restrict someone from transferring easily. There was a grab rail that could be raised and lowered on the same side as the transfer area. Another fixed, vertical grab rail was also mounted on the wall beside the adjustable one. On the other side of the toilet was a fixed, horizontal grab rail which was mounted below the toilet roll dispenser. The flush was mounted on the side of the toilet cistern and had a rounded end on the lever, making it easier to flush. However, it was mounted on the side opposite to the transfer space, so you needed to reach across the toilet to use it. In front of the toilet was a small sink, which had a single, manually operated tap (no automatic sensors). It twisted to control both the temperature and flow of the water and had a small, extended lever so it could be turned with an elbow or fist. Above the sink was a paper towel dispenser, and to the left of that was a fixed, vertical grab rail. To the right of the sink was a manual soap dispenser and to the right of that was a hand dryer which had a button to operate. There was a baby change table mounted on the wall in the transfer area of the toilet. Two bins had been left in this area, which would obstruct both the use of the baby change table and the transfer space for the toilet. The table had been mounted quite high on the wall, so you would need to stand to be able to use it safely. There was an emergency red cord that was hanging down past the toilet and it had then been strung between hooks very close to the floor. This meant there was a continuous cord running from the door of the toilet, along the length of the room to the toilet itself, ensuring the cord was always accessible to pull from the floor. I really like seeing this feature in toilets, as it means the cord can’t be tied away.
Staff
Good
The staff were really lovely and helpful, even if they weren’t sure whether they had a Changing Places toilet!
