Overview

This has so far been my favourite accessible toilet I’ve ever been in! The whole building felt like it had been built with accessibility in mind and so the design of all the toilets, including this one, felt really well thought out. The way you accessed the Changing Places Toilet and the mechanism for the door was quite unique. You had to get a keycard from the information desk to start off. I sometimes get nervous about needing to request access but the staff were incredibly lovely and helpful. The keycard was used on a swipe pad just outside the toilet and then the door slid to the right. Once you entered the door shut automatically and then stayed shut until you pressed the button on the inside. There wasn’t a lock on the door as the only way to get in was with the keycard, and as I had it with me while I was in the toilet it meant that no one else could gain access. I thought this was a really clever way to control the door. The design was a really beautiful blue and pink cherry blossom design. It was really well equipped, really clean, well-maintained, and felt modern and not too clinical.

Transport & Parking

There is an underground car park for The FORUM which had lifts to bring you up into the building. It’s open all week from 7am-midnight and vehicles can’t be left overnight. They have 12 accessible parking spaces on Level -2, eight parent and child parking spaces on Level -1 and four EV charging stations on Level -2. The charging stations require you to have your own cable. There is a maximum height of 2 metres for any vehicles and parking charges apply. The closest bus stops are 140 metres away on Theatre Street. The buses available here are: 21, 21A, 23, 23A, 24, 24A, 24B, 30, 30A. The train station is 1.2 kilometres away but it’s worth noting that there are some roads with steep inclines on the route.

Access

The Changing Places Toilet is located just off the main atrium and there was really clear signage for the toilets which included the Changing Places Toilet symbol. The entrance to the building had revolving doors in the centre with signage to another set of double doors that are controlled by a button. These open automatically outwards when the button is pressed. The building's entrance and toilet corridor had very smooth tiling which was really easy to navigate. To use the Changing Places Toilet you have to go to the information desk. The window at the information desk was lowered so I didn't have to look or reach up when I was there. All the signage that I saw had Braille printed underneath the written English which was really good to see.

Toilets

The toilet was located in the same corridor as two other accessible toilets, one was a left-side transfer toilet and the other was a right-side transfer toilet. The Changing Places Toilet was accessed with a keycard which you had to collect from the information desk in the main atrium. There was a swipe pad on the wall outside which opened the door and then the door opened automatically and slid to the right. The door then closed automatically but it was controlled by a sensor which meant it did sometimes pick up people walking through to other toilets and delayed the door closing. Staff said that at busy times they can come and hold people back briefly while the door closed to stop the sensor being activated. Once the door had closed there was no lock inside and the sensor became inactive. It confused me at first but because there is only one keycard available to the public, it means that while someone is using the toilet with the keycard, it’s impossible for anyone else to access the toilet. Once the door was closed the only way to reopen the door was by pressing the large button on the inside. So it felt very secure and a clever way of managing it. The toilet was huge and decorated with a beautiful cherry blossom design. There were six coat hooks to the right of the door, three higher up and three lower down. There was a height-adjustable bench inside with paper to use on top of it located right by the head of the bench. The ceiling hoist was able to be manoeuvred around the whole room with the remote being stored in an easy-to-reach position on the wall. There were instructions on the wall by the remote about how to operate the hoist. The toilet had space for a right-side transfer and a left-side transfer with grab rails that could be raised and lowered on either side of the toilet. There were also fixed vertical grab rails next to the others. The privacy screen was mounted on one end to a wall and the other side could be pulled out to then be positioned wherever was needed. The sink was height adjustable with two vertical grab rails mounted on either side of it. It was a wide sink with a single tap that was manually operated (no automatic sensors). The tap had a long handle with a wide end which twisted to control the flow and temperature of the water. Above the sink, an automatic soap dispenser was mounted and to the left there was an automatic paper towel dispenser and hand dryer. To the left of the hand dryer was also a large mirror. There were two emergency red cords in here, one by the door and one by the toilet and both were hanging freely to the floor.

Staff

As you had to collect the keycard from the information desk it meant interacting with staff. They were super lovely and really helpful. They let me know that as the door closing mechanism is controlled by a sensor to stop it closing on anyone it can sometimes take a long time for it to close as other people go past to use the toilets. They said if it’s busy and causing a problem then staff can briefly hold people back to allow the door to shut.

Photos