This article originally ran in the April 2011 issue of the iWomen member newsletter FireWork.

Privacy in the Modern Firehouse – Part 2

By Candice Wong

In the first article of this three-part series, we began to explore privacy issues that are common in the modern
firehouse. We took an in-depth look at the sleeping room component of the firefighter living quarters and
looked at several different approaches to the design and layout of these spaces.

In this second article, we will

build on solutions for
providing gender privacy in the
restrooms and delve into ideas
for wardrobe lockers in the
firefighter living quarters. We
will look at these spaces and
share the pros and cons of
“gender specific”, “neutral” and
“friendly” options.

Firefighter Restrooms and

Locker Facilities
One of the first steps in the
design process with regard to
restrooms is determining the
number of plumbing fixtures San Jose (CA) Fire Station 34
(sinks, toilets, urinals, etc.)
needed for the anticipated number of men and women users for the building. The minimum required number
of plumbing fixtures is determined by the current building and plumbing codes. We will discuss this topic in
more detail in the third and final article.

For the purposes of this article, we will focus on operational considerations for the design and layout of these
spaces. Just like in determining the best solution for the firefighter sleeping quarters, the design of
restrooms and the location and layout for the wardrobe lockers should be based upon your department goals
and priorities. Some items to consider are:

• How many firefighters will work in the fire station on a daily basis at full capacity?
• Will firefighters shower prior to shift change? If so, consider the typical number of users.
• Will this station be used for staging during emergency events?
• Is your station designated as a secondary Emergency Operations Center (EOC)?
• Provide one wardrobe locker per assigned firefighter (ex.: 5 firefighters per shift x 3 shifts =
15 lockers).
• Consider adding wardrobe lockers for relief firefighters or trainees.
• Most modern wardrobe lockers are 2 to 2.5 feet wide x 2 feet deep x 7 feet high.

Again, it is important to recognize and work with a solution that will best meet your department’s current
and future operational needs.

Continued
FireWork Page 2

Gender Specific Restrooms

Gender Specific Rest-
and Locker Rooms
rooms & Locker Rooms
Along with gender-specific
dormitories, or gender-neutral
bunk rooms, your department
can choose to implement as
part of your renovation or new
fire station gender-specific
restrooms and locker rooms.
As explored previously in the
first article, the difficulty with
gender specific spaces is that
you have to determine the ex-
act number of men and
women firefighters. Once the
operationally needed number
of lockers and plumbing fix-
tures for each gender has been
determined, design and layout
of these spaces can com-
mence.

As an example, there are a

number of fire departments in
large metropolitan areas that
run two to three crews in one fire
station per shift. These facilities
need to accommodate a large
number of firefighters as well as
fluctuating men and women ratios
on a daily basis. For this reason,
these departments have chosen to
provide equal number of plumb-
ing fixtures in each restroom. This
means that restrooms for men
and women each have the same
number of toilets, sinks and
showers. In the case of the men’s
restroom, the number of toilets
may be reduced to accommodate
urinals.

In the design of the locker rooms, Gender Specific Rest-

these departments have elected to
provide a reasonable split to the
total locker count needed per op-
erations, based on their current
and anticipated men and women
crew ratios. As an example, if a
total of 60 lockers are needed for
the fire station to accommodate
all shifts, then 70% of the lockers
would be located in the men’s
locker room and 30% of the lock-
ers in the women’s locker room.
Many times these locker rooms
rooms & Locker Rooms
are designed to have an expan- close proximity to the sleeping
sion space in between them or quarters, whether they are dormi-
have a common wall to provide tories or bunk rooms.
flexibility and the ability to adjust
the number of lockers in each The individual style restrooms are
locker room. very compact, efficient, and can
help save square footage.
Gender-Neutral Restrooms
Many fire stations designed today
have gender-neutral restrooms.
These restrooms are located in Continued

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Each gender neu-
tral restroom in-
cludes space for Gender Neutral Restrooms Rooms
one lavatory, one
toilet and one
shower with a
bench. In some
designs, we have
seen the incorpo-
ration of small
hygiene lockers
for toiletries ei-
ther within the
restroom or in a
bank of lockers
immediately out-
side of the rest-
room location.
The number of
these single occu-
pancy restrooms
are based on the
crew size and the
frequency of use.

Many depart-
ments prefer this
style of restroom
as it allows a firefighter to
shower and change in the Gender Neutral Restrooms
same space.

Wardrobe Lockers
Associated with Sleeping
Quarters
When the wardrobe lockers
are located within or a part
of the bunk rooms or dor-
mitory spaces, configura-
tion and size of the lockers
can drive how they are in-
corporated into the project.
Wardrobe lockers can be
designed as part of an indi-
vidual bunk room, a double
bunk room, or a gender-
specific dormitory. There
should be a minimum of
three lockers for each bed.
Adding a fourth wardrobe
locker would allow the de-
partment the flexibility to give practices for locker and locker fire stations. A firefighter would
vacation relief or trainees a place room ventilation. have complete privacy for dress-
to store their personal gear while ing, for use of the restroom, and
on duty. This fourth locker, since The “Gender Friendly” Solution for sleeping.
it is intended for temporary per- The “gender friendly” solution to
sonnel to the fire station, can be the sleeping quarters is one of the
smaller if space is tight. In the newer design solutions being im-
plemented in new and renovated Continued
next article, we will discuss best

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This solution provides each fire-
fighter with a dedicated single
occupancy bunk room with ward-
robe lockers and a connected sin-
gle occupancy restroom. These
individual sleeping units are very
compact, efficient, and can help
save square footage. Like the gen-
der “neutral”, these restrooms in-
clude space for one lavatory, one
Gender Friendly Solution
Gender Friendly Solution
toilet and one shower with a
bench. Many departments prefer
this style of sleeping unit as it
provides complete privacy.
In the San Jose (CA) example
shown in the first article, the lock-
ers have access on the bunk room
side as well as the hallway side to
provide flexibility for on-coming
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crews to access their gear prior to
shift change.
Regardless of which restroom,
locker room, or sleeping room is
selected for use in your facility,
from an operational standpoint,
they should all work together as a
complete unit for the sleeping
quarters. As mentioned, the living
spaces for the fire-
fighters should be
comfortable and offer
privacy, as a fire sta-
tion is not only a
work place, but a
home as well. Solu-
tions should be
based on the specific
operational needs of
your department and
it is important to
identify your depart-
ment’s current and
future goals and en-
gage your firefighters
in the process.
In the third and final
article, we will wrap
up this series with a
review of how fire
operations, company
culture, best prac-
tices, standards and
building codes all
play into the solu-
tions for gender pri-
vacy.
Candice Wong special-
izes in the management
and implementation of
public safety projects at
RRM Design Group. She
works directly with fa-
cility owners and user
groups to understand,
develop, and meet their
operational goals,
needs, and maintenance
requirements.