London City Hall

City Hall, London

City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London.

It is a place filled with employees as well as a popular tourist venue where visitors can tour the building, take part in events, watch performances and eat and drink in the café.

In July 2008 City Hall opened its Changing Places toilet. The key features are:

• An adult-sized height adjustable wall-mounted changing bench
• A ceiling track hoist
• A peninsular toilet
• Plenty of space for the disabled person and two carers.
• The facility also contains a shower, shower chair and an emergency alarm.

Deciding to install a Changing Places toilet

The Mayor of London’s Senior Policy Adviser for Disability Issues was the driving force behind getting the Changing Places toilet installed at City Hall.

After a discussion with the Changing Places consortium, he made a commitment to raise the bar and look at a new type of toilet facility for City Hall - something that would meet the needs of disabled employees and visitors who needed a changing bench and/ or a hoist and plenty of space.

Installing the Changing Places toilet

An architect who specialised in accessible design was asked to have a look at the existing toilet provision in City Hall. She was told that City Hall wanted to convert an existing shower room and toilet into a modern facility for disabled users, incorporating the latest best practice.

Together with a colleague she carried out an audit of all the toilets and came up with recommendations for improvements to the existing provision as well as ideas for additional facilities.

An existing, inaccessible shower room on the ground floor of City Hall was chosen to become a new, inclusive toilet and shower. It was easily accessible for both visitors and staff.

When deciding what facilities should be included in the room they took into account the existing facilities in City Hall, the potential range of needs and the size of the available space.

The size of the room and the equipment they decided on fitted the criteria of a Changing Places toilet.

Following the opening of the facility, they planned to collect feedback from users and use this to fine-tune the design.

The Changing Places toilet at City Hall is maintained along with the other toilets in the building.