Who doesn’t want something nice? Locker rooms contribute a lot to a facility’s general appeal. It means the difference between clients coming to your place versus going straight to other competitors. This is the place where your clients go to shower after a rigorous workout, freshen up and generally wind down before going back to their homes. They, therefore, need to feel comfortable and at ease as opposed to looking for a quick exit as soon as they are done with the showers.
Almost all locker rooms have the same with similar essential elements but even without a restraining budget, designing locker rooms can seem like such a daunting task without a few guidelines and ideas on how to go on about it.
The first thing you have to put into consideration when checking locker room designs is the space you have available for your locker room project. Having this information will help you factor in other aspects of your locker room essentials. You can make it work with whatever spacing you have though, you just have to be good at your planning.
Clients need to have a lot of spacing, especially in the locker sections. This will make them comfortable without them feeling like their privacy is being invaded or that they may be invading other people’s privacy. You also allow an easy flow of traffic for those trying to access the showers and a clear way out to lighted emergency areas in case of emergencies.
More importantly, your locker room configuration should also comply with the American people with disabilities act that requires you to have 48 inches of space around your lockers to ensure easy maneuverability by people with disability.
When buying materials for constructing your locker room, you should put into great consideration the materials you buy by checking the rate at which materials burn as per the results on tests done on all building materials conducted by The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) which determines the flame spread rate of materials.
You should, therefore buy materials that are more fire retardant to ensure your locker room is safer for your clients giving them time to assemble at emergency points in case of any accidents.
When you are thinking about the type of lockers to install, you should have in mind the demographic setting of that place. If, for instance, your facility is situated near a university, you know that most of your clients will be students and they’ll probably come to your area with backpacks that contain their personal items. This means that you’ll need lockers that act as storage spaces for them to store their belongings.
In an uptown area, most of your clients will be people who have incorporated fitness or sports into their daily schedule and will most likely come to your place in their formal attire. You’ll, therefore, need lockers with more vertical space for them to hang their attire (suits and skirts).
The third setting is residential areas. Clients from this area will most likely come dressed for workouts or ready in their sporting attire. This means that their only concern is space to store their essentials such as watches and phones. You can, therefore, install small lockers because the clients will, definitely, not use up that much space. You can also install a few sizable lockers just in case.
When you’re doing locker room designs you have a variety of three main locker materials to choose from; wood, plastic, and metal.
Wooden lockers are the best for sports facilities and gyms. They come in a number of stains such as maple, cherry, and glossy clear coats.
These types of lockers are the best for humid places because they don’t rust. They are made from a variety of different things such as industrial grade particle board, medium-density fiberboard or thermo-fused melamine. They also come in a variety of color finishes such as textured, matte or glossy realistic wood grain. They are durable, versatile and scratch resistant making them more economical than either metal or wooden materials.
Metal lockers are the majority sellers in the US and are mass produced at an affordable price. You just have to provide the dimensions required and they are delivered on site to be assembled. It has a few downsides, however, because of the nature of the material. They are easily susceptible to rust and most people complain of their noisiness.
When planning your locker room designs you also have to consider security. Most people leave their valuables in lockers and having the best security features is paramount to customer satisfaction. You should consider a few things such as security versus convenience. You can use padlock hasp locks because they offer security and convenience. The locks keep the client’s belongings safe while also offering the convenience of not using keys.
In the case that lockers are offered on a permanent basis though, you should consider using pushbutton combination locks or card reader locks to ensure that the client’s personal belongings are safe.
These are some of the factors to consider when choosing locker room designs. You should, therefore, ensure that all these essential factors are met so that you can keep your clients happy and satisfied ready to come back again.