Vandal Proof Design

From locations off the grid to city centers, Romtec designs restroom structures for many types of environments. Structures in Urban environments can experience heavy use, vandalism, and other security concerns such as crime and drug abuse. The circumstances around every project are unique, but often these different urban areas can be affected by the same problems, and Romtec has the capability to design and supply vandal proof structures for this unique application.

Public restroom structures are an important part of our communities’ infrastructure and provide resources for more people to spend their time outdoors and interact with their communities. Park restroom structures allow families to spend meaningful time in a relaxed environment, without needing to cut their visit short to leave and find a bathroom.

These structures, however, are vulnerable to vandalism and crime after park hours. Public restrooms are frequently mistreated and abused, especially in cities where facilities are accessible 24 hours a day. One of the things that Romtec can do to combat security concerns is design a building that structurally reduces the capability of vandals and criminals. Romtec’s sidewalk restroom was designed with these concerns in mind, to be placed in urban areas with a high amount of foot traffic both day and night.

The Sidewalk Restroom

The sidewalk restroom is a steel enclosure with minimal features inside, and vents around both the top and bottom of the structure. All interior fixtures are stainless steel and louvers allow occupants to be seen from the knees down, providing law enforcement with the ability to observe the occupant while outside of the structure. The vents also allow security lights inside to be easily seen, with the lights switching colors to indicate occupancy.

Sidewalk restrooms are fully functional and offer a reasonable level of privacy while encouraging quick use and utilizing a design that discourages crime and vandalism, making this vandal proof structure a safe and durable option for urban areas.

Cedar Links Park

For customers that want a traditional block building and who have a larger area to construct, similar concepts can be worked into the design, such as in the Cedar Links project in Medford, Oregon.

The Cedar Links project incorporates a couple of the same features of the sidewalk restroom for security and surveillance, as well as a custom fabricated door and gate system. The City of Medford, Oregon worked with Romtec to design a structure that would suit their needs while deterring vandals and criminals. The City has had issues with vandals breaking into their restroom structures, and being forced to spend funding on replacing doors and they were looking for a more secure structure to combat these problems.

To achieve this, Romtec’s engineers developed a special design utilizing a custom steel “gate door” that is fabricated by Romtec’s own metal shop. This custom door is padlocked in the open position during the day and in the closed position at night for added security. When the door is open, it leads to an open hallway with block partitions obstructing the line of sight to the restroom stalls. The block partitions lessen the number of doors on the building overall and are much harder to destroy. There are also double gates over the gate door, creating two barriers for vandals to get through when the building is locked at night.

As an additional vandal proof feature, the block used on the Cedar Links building features strategic breaks in the block at ground level, combined with a security light. This is very similar to the vent and light combination seen in the sidewalk restrooms. The security light sits on the front of the Cedar Links structure and activates if motion is detected after hours. Occupants can then be seen through the breaks in the block. This allows police to easily identify if someone is in the structure without having to enter the building or even leave their vehicle.

Extra Security Features

In addition to the design details on the Sidewalk restrooms and the Cedar Links structure, Romtec can also offer added security features. Security lights, as mentioned above, can be placed in a restroom to indicate occupancy, or Romtec has also supplied structures with specialty lighting that discourages intravenous drug use by making veins difficult to locate. Romtec can also supply timed door locks, anti-graffiti coatings by Exterior Performance Coatings, access gates, motion sensor lights, and more. Additional security features such as these can be used in different combinations to enhance the security of a structure.

Designing restrooms for urban environments can be a challenge, but thankfully Romtec has the knowledge, experience, and manufacturing capabilities to design a secure restroom. Romtec takes heavy usage, crime, and other of our customers concerns into account to design and supply the best structure for their application. By combining vandal proof design and additional security upgrades, Romtec can meet our customers’ needs and ease their security concerns.