Changing Places Case Study: MAGNA Science Adventure Centre

We RISE Together

RISE was contracted to adapt a first aid room into a fully BS8300 compliant Changing Places toilet. The build included stripping and demolition within the existing space, sewerage groundworks, and fully refitting the space so it was safe and met relevant building regulations and planning conditions before installing the legally required Changing Places equipment – an adult changing bed, a height-adjustable sink, an accessible toilet, a hoist, grab rails and a privacy screen.

An interesting wrinkle in this project was the groundworks and sewerage. As MAGNA was never originally intended to be a visitor attraction, they have a customised and somewhat idiosyncratic drainage system on site. To ensure sewage works did not affect other parts of the business, RISE had to work very closely with the team at MAGNA to ensure we fully understood the ins and outs of their system so groundworks could be completed safely.

Vital to the project too was that the normal running of the business should not be affected in any significant way. MAGNA Science Adventure is a busy tourist attraction that welcomes over 80,000 visitors a year, so it was very important that negative customer impact was kept to an absolute minimum.

RISE worked closely with MAGNA throughout the whole process, giving them total control over the location, look, feel and finish of the adaptation. Moving quickly, the project was completed within 6 weeks of a contract being signed, with our expert adaptations team spending just 10 days on-site and allowing the business to run smoothly around the work. This resulted in a facility that is totally unique to MAGNA and reflects both its setting and heritage while meeting all the requirements of a Changing Places toilet.

Praise for RISE

“The build process was easy…because we already had an existing room that already fit the floorplan, it was just a case of strip out and rebuild. We targeted 2 weeks for completion, and works were finished within 10 days.

“Dealing with RISE was really easy. What was interesting to me is, going to the website, there were so many possible solutions to our problem. The ability to pick out all of the aspects we needed, along with two versions of the plans to accommodate two possible layouts, was great. Once we knew what we wanted, it was very easy to get done.

“The turnkey solution was key – as we remained open throughout, we had to be mindful of the rest of the business and RISE worked around our needs well.” – Stuart Lee, Operations Director, MAGNA Science Discovery

Increased Demand

MAGNA had over 1,500 disabled people with complex needs visit in 2022 – in 2023, they have had 1,500 in just the first six months. Clearly, there is a massive increase in demand for Changing Places toilets as knowledge of them grows, and we love that MAGNA trusted us to deliver this important project for them.