One of the few toilet buildings with extended accessibility adaptation

Varberg Getterön, Sweden

At a section of the beach at Getterön, Varberg Municipality has created an accessible bathing area. An important part of the facility is the toilet building, specially adapted with a lift and a height-adjustable changing bench. “There is a great need for this type of building,” says Ola Lundström at Danfo.

Public toilets equipped with aids such as lifts and changing benches are rare in Sweden. The new facility at the accessible beach in Varberg is one of only a few in the country – so far.
“This isn’t really on the agenda in Sweden yet, but at Danfo we’ve been working on this for a long time and are trying to influence municipalities. In the UK, for example, local authorities receive government funding for this type of toilet building – but here, we’re not quite there yet,” says Ola Lundström at Danfo.

The toilet building includes both a standard DWC and a larger DWC with extra space for mobility scooters. It is equipped with a lift, shower, changing room, height-adjustable bench, and a seat for assisted showering.
“Our flexible solutions work very well in these environments, and the building is used a lot,” says Ola.

 
Danfo collaborates with RBU (The Swedish National Association for Disabled Children and Young People), which has received funding from the Swedish Inheritance Fund for a project exploring how public toilets can be made more accessible for children and young people with severe disabilities. Swedish Funktionsrättsrådet (Council for Disability Rights) is also engaged in this work.

“It’s very valuable to gain insights from their everyday experiences. For instance, we learned that some people with major mobility impairments are sometimes forced to change clothes on the floor in public toilets when no changing bench is available – that’s completely unacceptable and shows how great the need is,” says Ola.
Now, Danfo hopes to see more toilet buildings with extended accessibility adaptation in the future.

“Today, many people struggle to access public spaces, and toilets are a key part of that. We’ve long maintained that a public environment isn’t truly accessible until there’s a toilet that everyone can use,” concludes Ola Lundström.