Changing Places Modular Toilet Case Study: Edinburgh Zoo

Written by Kit Garrett
August 4, 2023

Panda fans everywhere, rejoice! Edinburgh Zoo is the latest major visitor attraction in the UK to officially open an accessible modular Changing Places toilet.

Boasting the UK’s only Queensland koalas and giant pandas, Edinburgh Zoo is home to over 2500 animals from around the world and hosts over 600,000 visitors annually. Working with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the charity responsible for the Zoo and its maintenance, RISE built and supplied a modular Changing Places toilet, which has recently opened to the public.

Flexing to Meet the Client’s Needs

Following close and in-depth discussions with the client, it became clear that while there was a definite need for a Changing Places toilet at Edinburgh Zoo, there was no immediately suitable location to place it. Not wishing to delay the project until a suitable site could be found, the client requested that RISE build a modular pod for them and deliver it to the zoo, to be kept in storage until such a time that a more permanent solution could be found.

As part of the process of working on a Scottish construction project, we also had to obtain a Building Warrant to ensure the installation complied with local law.

Both of these were relatively new prospects for us as a company; we’re used to offering turnkey solutions that either include groundworks for a modular pod or a full-scale adaptation of an existing space. However, that doesn’t mean we weren’t up for trying something new!

What Would You Build?

Scope of Works

RISE built and supplied an all-in modular Changing Places toilet to the team at Edinburgh Zoo, including all the fixtures and fittings as required by the BS8300 standard. We pride ourselves on the quality of our builds and attention to detail in all of our projects. In this particular case, knowing the facility would likely be highly trafficked and may be moved several times before final installation, we made additional quality assurance checks at each stage of the build process. These resulted in a pod that will stand transportation and usage for many, many years to come.

What Is A Building Warrant & Do I Need One?

A Building Warrant is a legal document that gives you permission to carry out construction work in Scotland. Distinct from planning permission, which concerns how a project will look and its impact on the area or environment, a Building Warrant certifies that the project meets established building standards.

Applying for a Building Warrant is not always a straightforward process, particularly if you’re more familiar with the English planning system. Applications are made to the Building Standards department of the local authority your project resides in.

For a Warrant to be issued, you must demonstrate that your project meets a series of functional standards outlined in the Scottish government’s Technical Handbooks. Together with your application form and fee, you must submit full and detailed plans of every aspect of your project, from foundation and floor plans to roofing, services, and drainage layouts, as well as evidence of having carried out detailed site plans.

The most important aspect of your application is that you must actively demonstrate how your project meets these standards; if it does not, the verifier in the LA’s Building Standards team is under no obligation to tell you how you can alter your application to make it acceptable.

You can only begin work once a warrant has been issued – if you fail to obtain a warrant and your project is found to need one, you could be fined up to £5000.

Thankfully, at RISE we have experience with dealing with the Building Warrant system. Our in-house team of technical drafters and experienced project managers already create all of the plans required as part of our standard due diligence, so we can either help to guide you through the process or act on your behalf if you so wish.

Job Done, Pod Open, Happy Days

After successfully supplying the pod on time and on budget around 6 months ago, we’re happy to share that Edinburgh Zoo’s brand new Changing Places toilet is now open to the public – though, if you want to catch the pandas, make sure you do so before they go back to China in December 2023!

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