Ongoing construction of the bathrooms in buildings L5, S2 and S6 has been a significant inconvenience for both students and staff. With a selection of my own classes being close to the L5 wing, I’ve had my fair share of noise interruptions and walked through clouds of dust to class.
The expected completion of these renovations isn’t scheduled until April, leaving most students and staff having to improvise in the meantime.
This predicament has led me to explore the De Anza College campus in search of suitable substitute bathrooms for the time being. Through my investigation, I was able to deduce my top three locations.
My experiences are in the form of a male; therefore, I am unable to speak of the quality of women’s and gender-neutral bathrooms in this list.
Coming in third place is the Creative Arts Division building, located near the north entrance of the campus. Although the bathroom is small, with only two urinals and one stall, the absolute desolation of the area makes it ideal for privacy.
Where foot traffic and filled stalls prevail as an issue in more populated areas, you will feel unbothered and at peace here. With that said, this bathroom is one of the more outdated available.
Lacking automated toilets and sinks, users are dependent on flushing and turning off the faucet manually. That said, the overall condition of the room is grimy at best, with dim yellow lighting and mildew-like stains complemented by subliminal graffiti.
If you value privacy, this is the best spot on campus for you. Just be prepared for conditions to be those of a national forest public bathroom.
In second place is the Science Center building, located near the south side of campus. This bathroom is the epitome of modern-day technology, a spacious environment complemented by a fully automated system of toilets, sinks and paper towel dispensers.
Unlike the bathroom in third place, the features implemented create more self sustainability in the sense of cleanliness. With consistent flows of students, maintenance can become difficult for a college of our size; therefore, this factors into the rankings.
The foot traffic is relatively high but the plethora of available units inside the room is quite astonishing. Boasting the largest number of individual urinals/toilets on campus, I discovered through my research, it certainly makes for a mostly stress-free experience.
With the vast selection of restrooms available on campus, what I consider to be the grand helm of all others is the Learning Center West building.
This bathroom is similar in size to the Creative Arts Division building, having one more stall than its counterpart. But the overall state is in much better condition, consisting of a notable improvement of automatic sensors to manually operated appliances.
The hand-operated sinks and toilets, accompanied by the automatic paper towel dispensers, truly offer the utmost convenience a public bathroom can. Furthermore, the foot traffic of this building is minimal as the library and Media & Learning Center building take on most students.
This has been a go-to spot for me since freshman year, as it acts as a middle ground between my classes. In addition, the water fountain around the corner of the restroom is one of the more regulated and thirst-quenching I’ve had at De Anza.
Despite the challenges that construction has brought in terms of general convenience, I believe that students are still in good hands. Though it feels untimely, using it as a means to explore the campus in search of relief just might help you discover something new about this campus.
