Changing Places toilet and The Core Library
4
4
Date of visit: August 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
For the most part this was a lovely Changing Places toilet. It was well equipped, the equipment seemed to be well-maintained and the toilet as a whole was clean. The ceiling hoist and height-adjustable bench had instructions on how to use them on the walls which I think is always important. The walls were very vibrant, three had deep blue tiles and the last had large pink and purple stripes. The lights were also very bright in here. Some may find the environment a bit overwhelming. My main issues with this were that there were some wheelchairs and other equipment being stored in the toilet. These were obstructing easy access to the bench and the privacy screen. It's great that they have extra equipment but I would rather it wasn't stored in this toilet. I also found it incredibly difficult to find it. There was clear signage for the other toilets on the ground floor which felt misleading as there wasn't any signage at all for the Changing Places toilet. In the end I had to ask a member of staff where to go. I think the signage for this toilet could be improved. Once I had found the toilet I did think it was a good facility. It was well-equipped and seemed well-maintained. I personally quite liked the decor but it may not be to everyone's taste! It's location in the centre of Solihull was ideal as well.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
The entrance to the library is via a foyer that has an entry porch meaning there was an initial doorway, a short porchway with absorbent flooring, and another doorway. Both doorways had two sets of doors which loosely seemed to be one for entry and one for exit, although this didn’t seem like a strict rule. All the doorways had two sets of double doors which opened automatically as you approached them. They all opened towards the outside of the building. Once inside there was a large, carpeted entryway with information points and the Changing Places toilet to the left, the library ahead and the café and other toilets to the right. The signage for the main toilet corridor was very prominent but there wasn't anything to highlight where the Changing Places toilet was. I struggled to locate it and ended up having to ask a member of staff where it was. The flooring from the entrance to the Changing Places toilet was a linoleum flooring which was easy to navigate in my wheelchair.
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by personal vehicle
There are two car parks that are close by. The first is the Touchwood car park and the second is the John Lewis car park. Both are multi-storey car parks with a number of accessible parking spaces and lifts. They are both ticketless, paid car parks. This means the barriers make a note of a vehicle’s registration number as you enter and when you are leaving you need to type your registration into a ticket machine before you return to your car and it will let you know the parking cost. There are a few bus stops within a short walking distance of the library. 500 metres away there are the St Alphege Church bus stops, one on each side of the road. Here you can get the 188 bus. In the other direction and about 550 metres away, there are seven bus stops for Solihull Town Centre. Each bus stop is named ‘Solihull Town Centre’ and they have different letter designations to distinguish them. The buses available from this group of bus stops are: 4, 4A, 5, 27, 49, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 188, 223, 233, 514, 519, 601, 602, 630, 631, 664, 665, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, 6 Platinum Electric, X2 Platinum and X12 Platinum.
Accessible Toilets
Good
The Changing Places toilet was by the main entrance and to the left as you came in. I also needed my RADAR key to access this toilet with the door opening outwards and also having a grab rail inside to help with closing the door from the inside. There was another coat hook on the inside of this door which was slightly lower and easier to use. This toilet had royal blue tiles on three of the walls and large pink and purple painted stripes on the final wall. The lights were very bright in there. The toilet had a ceiling hoist in its charging position which was right by the door. There were signs with instructions on how to use it on the wall. A height-adjustable bench was located on the far wall of the toilet and that also had instructions on the wall. Both the hoist and the bench had maximum weight capacities of 200kg. The toilet had lots of room for both left and right-side transfers with grab rails that could be raised and lowered on both sides. In addition, there were two fixed, vertical grab rails mounted behind the toilet. There was also a back support available to lean on. The flush was built into the wall behind the toilet and had two large circles to push. You could push either one but the angle was slightly tricky to reach while sat in a wheelchair. To the right of the toilet was a height-adjustable sink. The lever to adjust the height was on the right-hand side of the sink. The sink itself was large and wide and had a single tap which was manually operated (no automatic sensors). The tap operated with one lever which twisted to control both the flow and temperature of the water. A soap dispenser was mounted above the sink which had to be pushed to activate. The sink had a maximum weight capacity of 100kg. To the right of the sink was a wall which had a large mirror mounted on it, an automatic hand dryer, and a paper towel dispenser. There was one emergency red cord in this toilet and it was hanging freely to the floor. There was also a privacy screen, but it looked like it was broken as it was leaning against the wall at an angle. There were also two wheelchairs being stored in here.
Facilities: Changing Places toilet
Staff
Good
I didn’t spend much time speaking to staff but the interactions I had were nice and helpful, and there seemed to be a good amount of staff available.
