Situated in the heart of Chippenham, Emery Gate Shopping Centre is home to the only public conveniences in the town centre. The washrooms were looking particularly tired and as the schedule for renovations drew near, LAN Services were appointed to carry out a full-service washroom renovation.

Being the only public toilet, the washroom gets a significant amount of use and one of the key parts of the redesign was to ensure durability at every turn. Being a shopping centre, we also had to project manage this renovation in such a way that there was minimal disruption to the shopping centre’s businesses. This required coordinating deliveries and storage of materials on a strict schedule and carrying out exceptionally noisy works in the morning before opening hours.

After stripping back the rooms to an empty shell, we conducted a survey of all the mains drainage, which had been an ongoing issue in the building. We were able to upgrade the drainage pipes, accessing them from the car park, which sits directly underneath the washrooms. As part of this renovation, we also supplied and fitted a new boiler and hot water feeds. These essential works were integral to making sure the new washrooms would have the longest lifespan possible.

With the mains water and drainage all taken care of, we began installation of a highly durable, easy to clean washroom that had no compromise on smart aesthetics. Solid grade laminate was used throughout for cubicles and vanity units, while a PVC wall cladding was installed which not only wipes clean but can also be shaped round corners so that there are no joins where bacteria can harbour.

We also fitted a vinyl safety flooring which laps up the sides of the walls by a few inches, which makes dealing with spills or thorough washdowns fast and efficient. To finish the bright new washrooms off, we supplied new entry doors that contained a vision panel so that users would not open the door onto other users – a common issue in high-traffic washroom environments.

This project was carried out in a very short turnaround and was completed on budget and with very little disruption to local businesses.