Misconstruction | This hand dryer in J/K causes a door in your hip
In the new rubric Misconstruction, Folia describes striking technical defects in UvA buildings. This time: a hand dryer right next to a door in the gender-neutral toilets of the J/K building.
The J/K building has recently been renovated and the preliminary result is worth noting: what used to be an almost forgotten, untidy UvA building has now slowly become a vibrant part of the Roeterseiland campus. There is an espresso bar, an ‘innnovation space’ for start-ups and a brand-new lecture hall. At the same time, a new inner garden is being worked on and there are plans for a sports facility by the University Sports Centre.
New toilets have also arrived on the ground floor - spotless and gender-neutral, but with one drawback: it is cramped, too cramped. The hand dryer is right next to a door, which could open at any moment. Student Catherine Long has had it hit her right shoulder several times, she says. “Terribly irritating.” She now prefers to avoid it. So much for dry hands.
Orthopedagogics student Lilla van der Lek also has a lot to say about it. I didn't expect that the door would actually be used,' says Van der Lek. “When I got it against me, I really looked at the boy who came from behind it like: huh, how is this possible? But he thought exactly the same thing.” For the other person, of course, it is also a matter of being careful. You don’t want to hurt someone who is quietly drying his hands. Law student Olivier van Riet says he once “bumped into” someone with that door. “Since then I always open that door very carefully”.
Passage to espresso bar
What is actually behind that door? The answer is a small passage to the new lecture theatre TB.39 and espresso bar Coffeestar. So basically a shortcut for Coffeestar employees and customers in particular, to get to the toilets faster. If you enter through the ‘regular’ door, on the other side, the situation is oddly not much different.
There, you risk bumping into someone who is washing their hands at the first sink. In practice, therefore, toilet users usually choose to use one of the other two sinks, but at peak hours they still want to be occupied. So anyone who goes to these toilets and has a social antenna will shuffle carefully inside anyway and hope that they don’t hit anyone. Once outside, the coast is safe again. It is a (minor) blemish on an otherwise successful renovation of the J/K building.
Have you spotted a glaring construction defect yourself? Mail us at redactie@folia.nl
