The Full Flush: Interview with Teague’s Chris Pirie
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We all tend to get a little squeamish when we talk about toilets, but showing aircraft lavatories a little love can go a long way to improve the passenger experience and increase brand equity. In “The Full Flush,” we talk to Chris Pirie, business development director at design consultancy Teague. Here’s the full interview:
In 2011, Kenneth Dowd Teague’s former vice-president of aviation said: “Bringing design into the economy-class cabin is the next great frontier.” What are your thoughts on that?
Airlines tend to focus squarely on business and first class cabins. There’s an obvious rationale given the return on investment, but there’s a lot of potential in economy class for airlines to further differentiate and build brand equity. A strong brand offers a competitive advantage and increased profitability. And that is the aim of every airline.
What do you think has motivated a stronger focus on economy lavatories?
There is a much stronger focus on brand in general. The lavatory is as important as any other part of the in-flight experience, but it’s an area often overlooked. Airlines are beginning to consider every brand touch point, in every class.
How have airlines changed or enhanced their requests regarding economy lavatories?
In the past few years there has been increasing interest from airlines in experience design: considering an end-to-end experience versus separate parts, and using human-centered design to create the type of meaningful innovation passengers want. The lavatory is an important part of the travel experience: Everyone uses it, but very few enjoy it. There’s a lot of potential for that space, airlines are definitely interesting in capitalize on that.
What is the latest lavatory project you’ve been involved in?
We recently collaborated with B/E Aerospace on their Advanced Lavatory. It’s the first lavatory designed completely from the ground up to accommodate additional passenger seating without sacrificing comfort. It was a tough challenge, but design is truly at it’s best when it’s able to solve such complex problems.
“Design is truly at it’s best when it’s able to solve such complex problems.”
Apart from design, how can an airline improve a lavatory?
Cleanliness certainly goes along way!
Read our story on aircraft lavatories in The Architecture Issue.