The Well Designed Building
By Bill Garland, Senior Partner, Daniels & Associates Inc.

We all see features in a building’s design that would make it easier to clean and a recent conversation with a building project manager made me think about what some of those features should be.
Approximately 25 years ago we were all alarmed when buildings started to be constructed with janitor closets that did not contain sinks. Today facilities are being built without janitor closets on every floor.
A building project manager had called me because of his concern of not having a janitor closet on each floor. He was only looking at one for every five floors.

I responded that there should not be a concern because, outside of washroom cleaning, there is very little need for water on each floor. Washrooms now tend to be done by specialists who travel from floor-to-floor with their water in a bucket. Washroom toilet tissue and hand towels, which are the other big use of janitor closets, will be replaced by day staff in large buildings and can be taken from a central storage in smaller buildings.

Today’s cleaning systems do not require water on the floor as, typically, all liquids are brought up in spray bottles after they have been filled from a central dispensing system using concentrated chemicals. Additionally, spot cleaning of surfaces is only performed with spray bottles and microfibre cloths, and any washing will be done by a specialist cleaner who will carry water with them. 
In systems such as team or gang cleaning, where each cleaner is a specialist, only one cleaner will be doing the spot cleaning and will cover several floors in the course of their shift.

Some of the other items that assist the cleaner to perform his/her tasks is a well designed building. Some important design features are outlined in the following paragraphs.

On the exterior design the building and surrounding landscape should be constructed for ease of access with ladders and other equipment for window washing.  Legislation requires proper anchors on the roof for window cleaning equipment, but make sure that it is easy to access and work from at ground level.

Seal surfaces such as parking garage floors and other porous concrete.  These surfaces will naturally dust, which will result in debris being tracked inside the building.  It is also easier to remove oil and other unsightly spills if the surface is sealed.
In designing lobbies and corridors it is particularly helpful if they are created with as few obstructions as possible to enable the use of labour-efficient equipment such as automatic scrubbers.  This includes mounting building directories, water fountains and waste containers on the walls.  In addition, washable surfaces such as ceramic tiles should be installed around water fountains in order to prevent staining of the walls.

The almost universal use of latex paints as opposed to oil-based paints has made spot cleaning and wall washing more difficult.  These paints mark more easily, do not stand up well to some of the chemicals used in cleaning and usually appear to be dull.  It is important for the appearance of the cleaning program that wall surfaces are durable and easy to clean.

Flooring surfaces are becoming easier to clean with less use of vinyl tile, and increased use of ceramic tile and seamless sheet flooring.  Many of these floors are sold on the basis of no maintenance outside of a damp mop on a regular basis. Unfortunately, in the case of ceramic floors, the floors themselves may not need sealing or buffing but the grout does.  Try putting seal on the tile and then using a sponge squeegee to remove it from the surface of the tile, but keeping it on the grout. 

Seamless floors, particularly the new linoleums need initial sealing and finishing as the factory-applied finish will wear. If stains are allowed to penetrate the flooring itself, they are almost impossible to remove.
Furniture systems need to be designed for ease of mobility for the cleaner. Many of today’s modular systems are designed with the cleaner in mind.  I have even seen buildings where the waste container is hung just inside the office door so the cleaner does not have to completely enter the office to remove the trash.

In fact, we are increasingly seeing consideration given to central trash systems where the trash is taken to a central deposit point by the office occupant and the office itself is only cleaned on a weekly basis.

Washrooms are the most expensive area of the building to clean and this is one area that can make or break a building’s cleanliness reputation. 
Ceiling hung partitions and wall-hung toilets and urinals can reduce the amount of time required to clean a washroom by as much as 15 per cent.  A floor drain is an absolute necessity and a water faucet installed under one of the sinks is handy should water be necessary.

Walls and floors in the washroom should be glazed ceramic which is durable and easy to clean. The grout, particularly on the floors, should be a dark colour, and sealed to prevent discolouration and penetration of odours.   Doors should have kick-plates and hand-plates which are stainless steel or some other metal which is easy to clean.  Avoid brass and other metals which stain easily and are difficult to clean.

The partitions in the washroom should be a dark colour to discourage graffiti and if they do go to the floor should be constructed with an acid resistant material to prevent corrosion.

Toilet tissue and towel dispensers should be of the jumbo variety to reduce the number of changes required.  The amount of time saved in changing these items can add up to hours per day in a large building. 

In public washrooms we have seen a trend towards more electric hand dryers, but I still like to see a towel dispenser in the washroom as well.  Many users do not have the patience to wait for a dryer to do its job, and will flick the water on their hands onto the floor or other surfaces such as mirrors or walls, creating more cleaning.  The new high velocity dryers will also spread the water for quite a large area around the dryer.
Placing the mirror a couple of inches above the sink also makes the cleaner’s job a lot easier.  Pipes leading to the sinks should be enclosed to reduce the need to dust and clean them.