Dedicated nursing and changing facilities reveal how different societies define hospitality, accessibility and family-friendly design.

Returning from a recent trip in Asia, I noticed that the baby care facilities in countries such as Taiwan were particularly exceptional. Within major train stations and privately-owned public areas, including shopping malls, one can easily see dedicated baby changing and nursing rooms. Compared to the United Kingdom’s approach, which generally integrates infant and toddler care into an accessible WC, the Asian countries excel in allocating dedicated space for these needs beyond a foldable table to change nappies.

A baby care suite in Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport. Image by Von Chua.

In countries such as the UK, US and much of Europe, baby care facilities are typically provided through integration - there is hardly any separation between the baby changing facility and the nursing facility. The act of feeding your baby, whether it is breastfeeding or formula feeding, is viewed as a private act in countries in the East, whereas countries in the West encourage feeding in public or bringing what is needed, such as hot water, with you. Often seen in the UK, the single lockable family WC does double duty as toilet, sink and baby changing station, with the layout dictated by wheelchair turning circles. It is a solution born of accessibility law rather than of hospitality; in the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act sets the dimensional standard, reinforced in 2016 by the Bathrooms Accessible In Every Situation Act, which required baby changing tables in both men's and women's WCs. The UK's Building Regulations took a step further in January 2021, when an amendment to Approved Document M made Changing Places facilities, fitted with a hoist and an adult-sized bench for carers of older children and adults with complex needs, mandatory in large and new shopping centres, stadiums and leisure buildings. It is a welcome shift, but it is worth noting that the instrument driving it is disability legislation, not a broader question of what baby friendly and family friendly design should look like.

Through my research, baby facilities in Japan and Taiwan start from a different premise entirely. Rather than integrating baby care into an accessible toilet, large developments allocate it its own footprint, planned within its spatial planning: a stroller-parking entry, an open co-ed changing area with built-in counters, and private nursing booths, all finished more like a nursery than a washroom - timber laminate, soft padding, and strong ventilation specified to eliminate odour. Taiwan's Public Breastfeeding Act, passed in 2010, drove a positive change. Government buildings over 500 square metres, transit hubs over 1,000, department stores and hotels over 5,000, must provide a standalone baby nursing room, with fines for developers who do not comply. Japan's Barrier-Free Act integrates the same obligation into the building-permit process for large developments and transport hubs. In both cases, the instrument is public health and demographic policy, not disability rights; Japan and Taiwan have simply decided that this is infrastructure worth legislating for in the long term. The Japanese and Taiwanese population enjoys the benefits of these elevated baby care facilities, and tourists to these countries get to use these baby care facilities, which enhances their experience in these countries.

The sizes of these baby care facilities make the gap tangible. For example, a UK Changing Places room runs to at least 12 square metres, which is generous by Western standards, but still a fraction of a certified Taiwanese Excellent Breastfeeding Room, which can encompass 20 square metres of wet and dry zones, including refrigeration and multiple private stalls, or a flagship Japanese commercial suite, which may exceed 30 square metres. None of this is really about square metreage, of course, it is about whether baby care is treated as an accessibility retrofit, sized to satisfy building regulations, or as a considered piece of hospitality.

How much of what we specify for baby care facilities and family facilities is genuinely considered, and how much is simply a minor solution that ticks the boxes to gain the approval of the UK’s Building Regulation Approved Document Part M? Would a client sign off on an extra two or three square metres of net internal area if it were framed as a unique differentiation point rather than compliance? Japan's concept of omotenashi - a hospitality that anticipates a guest's needs before they are voiced, offers one useful perspective; it is not a bad question to hold up against any public-facing brief, family facilities included.

A baby changing facility is a small thing to build a philosophy around. But small, quietly mandatory pieces of infrastructure are often the most direct evidence of the people in a country and the quality of lives they lead. These thoughts lingered as I thought about the poor ventilation system fitted inside one of these baby facilities in an upmarket shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Everything else, though, a small suite with its own door, a stroller bay, a changing mat next to a sink, a curtained booth for nursing mothers, and a hot-water dispenser for baby formula. What more can one ask for?