Gensler’s Foundations, Associations, and Organizations practice area held a design hackathon to challenge its team to create an out-of-the-box, radical new and equitable locker room experience with non-binary and trans athletes in mind.
This project is in partnership with Athlete Ally, a national not-for-profit whose mission is “to end the rampant homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality.”
After listening to athletes’ stories, the team redesigned the traditional locker room components, from the lockers to the shower and sauna spaces. Through this exercise, they developed a kit-of-parts to help institutions create a more inclusive space.
During the design hackathon, each of the four teams focused on one specific zone: the entrance and changing area, toilets and vanity area, showers, and sauna or steam rooms. Each of the zones used architectural elements, brand, and product solutions to envision the radically non-binary experience that is being advocated.
Although some solutions would be part of a larger intervention, they helped identify six steps all organizations can do now for a more inclusive experience:
- Signage—Change locker room signage to welcome all, regardless of how they might identify their gender.
- Privacy—Increase privacy with what structures are already in place. For example, the lockers themselves can be re-situated to break clear lines of visibility so athletes can experience more privacy.
- Toiletries—Simply alter the accessibility of the bathroom and provide the same combination of toiletries discreetly in each stall.
- Neutral—Break the gender associations by not signaling his/her divisions through more neutral interior design style, accommodation of fixtures, and supply of products.
- Robes—Provide genderless robes as a simple strategy to have greater discretion and feel a more immediate level of comfort.
- Reconfigure—Any seating that can be rearranged should be to eliminate main focal points, opportunities for spectacle, and situations of over exposure.
With more than 100 anti-trans bills across the United States, Gensler sought to understand how design can create opportunities for an inclusive and safe experience.
