ETSA Seville Restrooms
Architects
Sol89. María González & Juanjo López de la Cruz
Collaborators
Monica Bidoli and Antonio De Paola, students ; Cristóbal Galocha and María Luisa Benítez, architects; Miguel Sibón, installations
Technical Architect
Rosalino Daza
Client
Servicio de Infraestructuras de la Universidad de Sevilla
Construction Company
Proconsa S.L.
Photography
Fernando Alda
The old restrooms of the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Seville (Rafael Fernández Huidobro and Luis Gómez Stern, Otaisa, 1965), outdated and in poor condition, needed to be renovated. We saw this as an opportunity to address existing design deficiencies, mainly the forced arrangement of fixtures due to the turn of the adjacent staircase and the excessive exposure of the access points to the communication corridor. We propose to create a central space dedicated specifically to the restrooms, located between the four metal pillars that repeat on all floors, and surround it with the other small functions required: access and vending area, rack closet, and cleaning room. In this way, the strict geometric and dimensional demands of the toilet cabins and the adapted restroom are resolved within the square layout of the floor, freed from the turn introduced by the staircase that previously distorted the old restrooms. The access area is positioned next to this, serving as a transit space that is not affected by the inclination caused by the staircase.
This new recessed entrance guides users toward the south facade, a well-lit and ventilated area that overlooks the trees in the school’s interior courtyard through the large window now incorporated into this space. Here, we place the washbasin area, designed with a single countertop for all restroom users, connected to the vending machines and the flow of students and teachers. Thanks to the setback and the turn of the access, it remains hidden from the corridor views. From the washbasin area, a row of sealed doors provides access to the female, male, and accessible restrooms, which are positioned and formalized without any exceptions. These three spaces are connected by a backbone through which the installations run, positioned as close as possible to the fixtures to optimize routing. Natural light is provided to these spaces through a continuous upper glass panel above the entrance to the toilets.
Regarding the materiality of the project, the lower edge of the existing window openings at 204 cm defines a horizontal line that runs throughout the intervention, differentiating two material solutions. Below this line, a ceramic basin is installed, made from a single 10 x 10 cm tile piece that covers the floor and walls. Above the 204 cm mark, the floor and wall surfaces are white, continuous, painted, with minimal installations, which are placed on the vertical surfaces.
