Bathroom décor can be a major contributor to the perceived ambience of a public building and the image of its occupants. Garry Lewis, Marketing & Communications Manager for Mitsubishi Electric says his expanding range of hand dryers make a discreetly elegant addition to any design scheme.
It has long been recognised that a public building’s bathrooms contribute far more to the atmosphere of the whole building than their size would suggest. A clean and well maintained bathroom is the very minimum for creating a good impression. A creatively designed and decorated bathroom, equipped with modern fittings is always well received and tends to create feeling of quality and attention to detail – for the bathroom and beyond to the rest of the building.
A good bathroom design will include sufficient space for comfort, a range of fittings positioned for convenience and ease of use, hot and cold running water, and good lighting – possibly including natural light and task lighting. It could also include child-level wash basins and hand dryers, along with mirrors and other accessories.
The best décor will look smart and inviting, while promoting a feeling of hygiene and cleanliness. It will also be easy to maintain, without feeling overly functional, clinical or institutional.
Many bathroom designers use a predominantly white colour scheme, which ensures a bright feel and aids cleaning. Others will choose to go with a strong ‘statement’ palette of colours, hoping to create a particular atmosphere.
One of the difficulties of going for a colourful bathroom décor is finding matching or complementary fittings that look smart. Often the designers prefer to develop a colour scheme that suits fittings in white or other muted colours, using their feature colours for walls, doors and floor coverings. If done well this can look very attractive and make a bathroom feel very special.
Understanding the needs of interior designers Mitsubishi Electric produces its Jet Towel Slim hand dryers in white, black and silver, Smart in white or silver and Smart Lite in white only.
These options have been chosen because they fit with virtually every colour palette likely to be used in bathroom decoration.
With Mitsubishi Electric hand dryers in use around the world, many have been used in installations where appearance and colour coordination are vital. Several trendy nightclubs have chosen all black Jet Towels to create a cutting edge image, while contemporary restaurants often go with a silver model, perhaps suggesting a mature and considered respect for advancing technology.
High tech multi-story office buildings often use silver models for their public areas, perhaps to complement the exposed structural steelwork or to provide a neutral background for tenants’ own colour schemes.
In such buildings, Jet Towel hand dryers are often used as their cutting edge, slightly futuristic feel fits well with an ultramodern building; if not crisp white units, silver seems to be the preferred colour. These colours can also be used to great visual effect in locations where an image of super efficiency and modernity are desirable.
Across the whole spectrum of installations white remains the most popular colour for Jet Towels. It looks smart and hygienic which gives bathrooms a clinical feel, making it perfect for facilities where hygiene is a key factor. It also gives the units an understated elegant stylishness that contrasts markedly with the functional and clunky designs of many hand dryers.
Of course, appearance is far from the only advantage of Jet Towel hands-in dryers. They are so efficient that they are reckoned to need only the tiniest amount of electricity per use, yet dry hands far faster than conventional blower dryers. Furthering their environmental credentials they are even Greenspec approved and ETL (energy technology list) registered.
In use, they are very quiet compared to both blower and other hands-in dryers and have even earned an official Quiet Mark from the Noise Abatement Society. This makes them popular for installations in hotels, theatres, conference centres, libraries and educational establishments.
An anti-bacterial material on all surfaces and an anti-microbial air filter come as standard to ensure super-hygienic operation. Naturally this is important in all installations, particularly medical-type locations, but it is also a major concern in heavily trafficked areas where the sheer number of users will drive up the potential for bacterial issues. So when an interior designer suggests the use of Mitsubishi Electric high speed hand dryers, the facilities manager can happily accept the recommendation and look forward to bathrooms that are smart, efficient, hygienic and low maintenance.