Approximately 7% of the population are unable to urinate in the presence of others.  This condition is known as paruresis.*  In buildings designed with multi person restrooms, paruresis sufferers are unable to urinate when others are in the same room or can hear this.  Toilet/urinal partitions or background music often provide little or no relief.  This environment damages the quality of life people should expect when functioning in society.  

Single user restrooms eliminate circulation square footage (the square footage in multi person restrooms for public movement within the room, see floor space in photo above) and thus can cost about the same or less to build as multi person styles.  Single user restroom doors typically open onto a main corridor without need for this circulation square footage.  

Design single user restrooms with the minimum amount of space.  Per Section 213.2.4 of 2010 ADA Standards for Accessibility Design, no more than 50% of a cluster of single user restrooms are requred to be accessible.  

Walk into any existing multi person restroom, count up the number of toilets and urinals in men's or toilets in women's and figure roughly an 8' X 5' single user restroom for each fixture.  Compare this to the size of the mulit person restroom with all of its circulation square footage.  Square footage savings can be as high as 50% by designing single user restrooms instead. 

Cluster single user restrooms along a main corridor wall with self closing doors to maintain the aesthetic integrity of the space. Specify 1) visual occupied/unoccupied door locks allowing people to see which restrooms are available; 2) an exhaust fan in each room operated by the light switch (when possible in low rise buildings) that provide sound as needed.  

With single user restrooms, employee and customer satisfaction will increase leading to better productivity and increased sales.  Buildings become user friendly, inviting, more in demand and an environment people can function in.** 

Seven percent of Americans is the population of New York State.  Paruresis is extremely common.  Architects, design single user restrooms only in all future projects.  

*      www.paruresis.org

** The American's With Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III PROHIBITION OF  DISCRIMINATION BY PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS:  "(a) General Rule.--No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation."  ADA also states that a person is "considered to have a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities."