Plumbing fixture count is our issue, not egress. According to our architect (and based on my own careful reading of the Chicago code), we will be classified as "large assembly" with specific occupant use as "health club." Ratio of 1/20 is specified for "recreation rooms." Makes sense to me. Building footprint is about 15,000. We have a huge padded space in front of main rope wall on 1st floor, some other climbing areas on a partial 2nd floor with ropes, and some for bouldering (without ropes). A small yoga room, fitness room, party room on partial third floor. Some offices, etc. Subtract out things the code says to subtract out from Sq. Footage (stairwells, bathrooms, vestibules, cafe etc.), and we come up with 18,280 sq. ft.--about 3/4 of which is padded "belaying zone" for rope walls and padded "landing/spotting zone" for bouldering walls. Using Chicago code, we get 914 occupancy for calculating fixture count (457 men, 457 women).
Chicago plumbing code says . . . Men: 1WC per 30 occupants up to 90, 1 per 50 over 90; Women: 1 per 25 up top 100, 1 per 30 over 100. This works out to 10 WC for Male locker room and 16 wc for Female (I know we can do 50% urinal for men).
My issue is that these are HUGE bathrooms for a climbing gym. We don't want/need to dedicate the space. I've been in the business 20+ years, and been to dozens of major gyms around the country and none of them have anything even remotely close to these numbers. For instance, the largest climbing gym in the country, in Atlanta, has approx. 28,000 sq. ft. of floor space (allocated almost exactly as ours is allocated), and their locker rooms have 3 WC + 4 urinals for men and 6 WC for women. I know other gyms slightly smaller than ours with 3 WC for women, 2 WC for men.
What are we missing? Is it the fact that the "landing areas" around the climbing walls shouldn't be counted as 1:20 space?? Is that how the local indoor tennis clubs or volleyball/soccer field houses or gymnastics gyms get away with not having 16WC for women? How might we instruct our architect to approach this with CIty of Chicago planning/permitting? Please help. Thank you!
PS- I often work out in a gymnastics gym in the city that is roughly 9,000 sq. ft. and it has only 2 single unisex bathrooms.
Chicago plumbing code says . . . Men: 1WC per 30 occupants up to 90, 1 per 50 over 90; Women: 1 per 25 up top 100, 1 per 30 over 100. This works out to 10 WC for Male locker room and 16 wc for Female (I know we can do 50% urinal for men).
My issue is that these are HUGE bathrooms for a climbing gym. We don't want/need to dedicate the space. I've been in the business 20+ years, and been to dozens of major gyms around the country and none of them have anything even remotely close to these numbers. For instance, the largest climbing gym in the country, in Atlanta, has approx. 28,000 sq. ft. of floor space (allocated almost exactly as ours is allocated), and their locker rooms have 3 WC + 4 urinals for men and 6 WC for women. I know other gyms slightly smaller than ours with 3 WC for women, 2 WC for men.
What are we missing? Is it the fact that the "landing areas" around the climbing walls shouldn't be counted as 1:20 space?? Is that how the local indoor tennis clubs or volleyball/soccer field houses or gymnastics gyms get away with not having 16WC for women? How might we instruct our architect to approach this with CIty of Chicago planning/permitting? Please help. Thank you!
PS- I often work out in a gymnastics gym in the city that is roughly 9,000 sq. ft. and it has only 2 single unisex bathrooms.