Commercial Restroom Reflections: Innovative Sink Advancements

Specifiers now have more options than ever before to customize commercial sinks—from custom finishes, materials, and sink station styles to accessories like bag hooks and trash holes.

With so many evolving custom sink requests, it’s important for sink manufacturers to work alongside customers to meet their specification needs.

Morgan Kish, Sloan’s Senior Product Line Manager for sinks, faucets, soap dispensers, and showerheads along with Emerson Vogel, Sloan’s Product Management Specialist, discuss sink advancements and their importance in the restroom.

What was the catalyst for Sloan’s emphasis on standard and enhanced sink customization options?

Kish: The biggest driver for us has been meeting customer needs. No one else in the industry is really providing customers with a one-stop shop when it comes to sink options, so Sloan wanted to fill this gap. There are many local fabricators that customers have historically utilized for custom sink designs, but this option comes with some limitations. Fabricators typically don’t certify the sinks for commercial applications and won’t help the customer understand if customizations meet code compliance—something that customers expect because it is offered if they purchase molded sinks.

Now, with Sloan’s custom sink offerings, we can either tell you if the sink is already certified or if it’s designed to meet certification depending on how customized it is. We always ask our customers, “Does this need to meet ADA requirements? Does this need to meet IPC and UPC guidelines? Does it need to meet any of the key plumbing codes?” We then ensure their design provides all the requirements needed to meet the regulations they request.

How important was ADA compliance when considering these customizable options?

Vogel: ADA compliance is a crucial consideration. At Sloan, we want to make sure when we’re working with architects and designers that, as the sink experts, we’re with them every step of the way, so that nothing gets overlooked from a compliance or regulatory standpoint—specifically when it comes to ADA. If ADA compliance is a requirement on their end, we're going to make sure that the sink we provide meets ADA compliance, as well as their architectural vision. This is at the forefront of every conversation we have with architects and designers.

Kish: We’ve also been extending beyond the typical ADA requirements with our customers and considering the enhanced reach of our sinks. We can also assist customers when they want to go above and beyond ADA requirements to have a superior customer experience. We want to make sure ADA compliance is covered, but there are additional methods we are employing to make the restroom even more accessible. 

While ADA isn’t always the perfect solution for accessibility, it gives you the minimum set of requirements. Enhanced reach and two-height designs are things we've been implementing more often, especially for larger facilities, such as airports. We're looking at different ways to meet requirements for all restroom users, regardless of the ADA requirements.

How do the customizable options on Sloan’s Sink Configurator provide an element of high design for the restroom?

Kish: Sloan’s Sink Configurator provides quite a lot of customization options, and we can do even more outside the configurator as well. We've been continually updating the configurator since its release over a year ago, and it's been incredibly helpful for customers to visualize all of that customization and picture exactly what their sink will look like when it arrives on-site. The individual sink basins have been a very popular option post-COVID. People want their own personal space especially in public spaces, and these sink basins give users the ability to set things down on the right or left of the sink counter as needed.

From a design perspective, we're seeing more unique designs across various facilities, so you’re not going to see the same sink in every restroom. Designers are looking at each building’s typical restroom user and what behaviors they have. For example, in an office building, people might just be washing their hands, whereas in an airport, people may need to brush their teeth and refresh themselves during a layover. The customizations are exciting to see in the configurator, along with all of Sloan’s sink options.

What are some of the most popular sink customization requests you’re seeing?

Kish: Customers are enthusiastic about our custom faucet engraving options, which places their brand name front and center on the faucet crown as users wash their hands. A lot of high-traffic facilities will specify a two-height sink basin, because if there are children using the restroom, it makes sense to have the lower height option. We also worked on a unique sink concept in a college football locker room where the back of the sink is extended so players could set down their football helmets as they wash their hands. The college also opted for LED lights underneath the sink enclosure and these lights shine on players’ shoes as they wash their hands.

Some of the customization is not overly complex, but because we have so many options, we're able to incorporate some fun elements into custom sinks. That's the other thing that I like about Sloan’s sink customization: while sometimes people think customization and assume it’s going to be overly expensive –and it can be–there are also a lot of ways that customers can customize and make their sinks unique to their facility without adding much extra cost.

Sloan just launched its Seaming and Start Up services. Do these services fall under custom sink installations?

Vogel: Yes, they absolutely do, and I would take it even a step further. There is yet another Sloan initiative to be closer to the customer and try to make these sink specifications less transactional, but more transformational. We don’t just want to provide customers with a sink and then have them figure out the rest. If needed, we can be there every step of the way, especially when it comes to seaming. For example, it can be a challenge for installers if they’re not familiar with Sloan custom sinks. That’s why we provide the expertise to support sink seaming needs to make sure it is done as well as possible. 

When it comes to providing start up services, having a Sloan professional there from the beginning up until installation brings expertise and best practices to the project, giving our customers the trust and satisfaction that they're making the right decision by choosing Sloan.

How do these customizable options differentiate Sloan from its competitors?

Kish: Sloan is proud to offer sink options at many price points. We are able to design sinks that’re extremely customizable, but if budgets get tight as a project progresses and the customer needs to value engineer the sinks to hit their overall budget needs, we can work with them and strategically remove elements of customization while still offering them the biggest benefit.

For example, maybe a customer specified a trash enclosure as part of the sink, but the budget is getting tight. We could then recommend alternative options with trash enclosures that would help save money. Since we design the entire sink system, we can handle tradeoffs easily to give our customer choices that a lot of our competitors may not have. We’re providing a customer-centric approach and want to offer the options that bring the highest degree of success to all of our customers projects.