Each year, leaders in the fashion, building design, construction, and home design predict upcoming trends. While these forecasts often receive significant attention, it’s important to note that in some sectors, the same level of anticipation and analysis applies to restroom design in commercial facilities.
No matter the industry, some predicted trends quickly become reality, while others may take longer or never materialize. However, based on recent developments in the restroom industry, here are some trends likely to emerge in the coming year:
Branded restrooms
Branded restrooms have existed for some time, particularly in businesses where owners aim to identify their spaces for employees, vendors, and guests. However, in 2025, we will see a significant shift towards restrooms that fully reflect the overall brand image of the facility in which they are installed.
Why is restroom branding important? According to Made in CA (Canada), branding fosters trust, authenticity, and customer loyalty, and it only takes 50 milliseconds to form an initial opinion about a brand and create a positive first impression.
In today’s competitive market, building owners and managers are keenly focused on making a strong, positive first impression on potential tenants and branded restrooms can help them accomplish this.
Wellness centres
With a growth in health and wellness in many industries, expect to see a growing trend towards more calming and restorative restroom designs, including:
- Soothing aesthetics that incorporate calming colour palettes, natural lighting, and abundant greenery.
- Enhanced comfort that provides comfortable seating options and furnishings in the restroom, focusing on natural materials like wood, stone, and earth tones.
- Serene ambiance that creates a more tranquil atmosphere with thoughtful choices in flooring, countertops, fixtures, and wall treatments.
This design shift recognizes the changing expectations of building occupants. In today’s world, restrooms are no longer just functional spaces. They are increasingly seen as opportunities for brief respite, rejuvenation, and even a place to view some quality art.
Robotic restroom cleaning
While robotic cleaning machines have been successfully used for carpet vacuuming and floor maintenance for a few years, they are now making significant advances in automated restroom cleaning. As these machines become more commonplace, they promise to revolutionize the cleaning industry in 2025.
This long-awaited breakthrough in robotic restroom cleaning has become possible through the convergence of internet connectivity, IoT (Internet of Things), and AI technologies. The new systems can be programmed to navigate between multiple restrooms on a floor and perform a systematic and thorough cleaning of all restroom areas, including fixtures, floors, and counters – with consistent quality and reliability. This technology offers several additional benefits that include:
- Reduced worker exposure to contaminated surfaces
- Minimized contact with harsh cleaning chemicals
- More staff time for other cleaning duties
- Cost savings for larger facilities, allowing for a quick return on investment
Like other technologies, as these machines become more widely adopted, initial costs are expected to decrease.
Predictive maintenance
In 2025, we will be entering a new era in which data-driven predictive solutions are replacing guesswork for restroom maintenance. Through IoT sensors, facilities can now monitor restroom conditions in real time and address issues before they become problems. In addition to tracking usage, these technologies can monitor air quality and ventilation performance, supply levels of paper products and soap, and even notify managers when cleaning is necessary.
This proactive approach represents a significant shift from traditional reactive maintenance. Instead of waiting for equipment to fail or supplies to run out, facility managers can anticipate and address needs in advance.
This minimizes downtime, optimizes operating conditions, and keeps building users happy. It will also help ensure more efficient and reliable facility management.
Water efficiency
Water efficiency involves the responsible use of water resources through technologies that save or eliminate water usage. In commercial facilities, this helps reduce water consumption and operating costs and maximize every drop.
In 2025, new apps and technological advancements will enable real-time monitoring of water usage, pressure, flow, leak detection, and temperature, all accessible via smartphones. These systems will also allow for immediate water shut-off if necessary.
Some apps will also use AI to offer suggestions to enhance water efficiency. For example, they may recommend installing high-performance toilets or switching to waterless urinals in an effort to improve water efficiency and reduce operating costs. The goal is to optimize water use and performance by proposing strategic upgrades to plumbing and fixtures.
Gender neutral?
In the 2000s, it was believed that unisex restrooms would become popular. However, this trend never gained widespread acceptance. Most restroom users did not favour the idea; some states even banned the practice, and the UK introduced laws to prevent it.
In the UK specifically, concerns were raised by women, older people, and people with disabilities, who felt disadvantaged as publicly accessible toilets were increasingly converted into gender-neutral facilities. They reported that these shared facilities led to longer wait times, decreased choice, and less privacy and dignity.
So, what will replace them in 2025? We already see more single-stall restrooms installed that are open to anyone without the traditional male or female designations on the door. Additionally, fully equipped baby care stations will be installed in all restrooms, making them available for all users.
Restroom lighting
Commercial restroom lighting is evolving beyond traditional ceiling-mounted fluorescent fixtures and LED lighting systems. 2025 will introduce more sophisticated lighting designs borrowed from residential bathrooms.
The new approach incorporates strategic lighting placement. For example, expect lighting systems installed:
- Around mirrors for better visibility
- Under cabinets and counters for ambiance
- Highlighting architectural features like polished chrome and stone surfaces
- Accent lighting for countertops and fixtures
According to designers, this enhanced lighting design serves multiple purposes. These include improved user safety and risk reduction, enhanced usability and functionality of public restrooms, greater energy efficiency, and elevating the aesthetic appeal of the restroom, all with the user’s comfort and safety in mind.
Staying power
Earlier, we said that predicting trends can be tricky: either they materialize, take more time than expected to evolve, or never happen at all. The trends and predictions listed here are likely to emerge because they have already been evolving for the past few years.
So, the question for these 2025 predictions is not whether they will happen but whether they will have staying power. Will building owners and managers want facility restrooms to be a comfortable, relaxing refuge or to remain strictly functional? Time will tell.
Klaus Reichardt is CEO and founder of Waterless Co, Inc., a pioneer in advancing water efficiency. Reichardt founded the company in 1991 with the goal of establishing a new market segment in the plumbing fixture industry with water efficiency in mind. Reichardt is a frequent writer and presenter who discusses water conservation issues. He can be reached at klaus@waterless.com.