How to Design The Perfect Community Laundry Area For Your Residents

If you’re in the process of building or remodeling a multi-family residential building, laundry has probably come up once or twice. We’ve previously talked about whether you should offer a community laundry room or in-unit laundry for residents. If you’ve opted for the on-site community laundry area, this article is for you. We’re sharing some of our best tips to help you design the perfect multi-housing laundry room that is functional, profitable, and a great selling point for your property. 

Number of washers and dryers

Having the right number of washers and dryers for your apartment complex or condominium’s shared laundry area is key for a number of reasons. First, you’ll avoid congestion and long-wait times for residents, which leads to increased satisfaction and less apartment turnover/empty units. Secondly, your laundry operation is more profitable due to the consistent use of machines. Plus, no machine is getting overused or strained, so you’re minimizing replacement and repair costs long term. 

As a rule of thumb, we recommend the following when purchasing commercial laundry equipment for your multi-housing facility:

• For garden-style apartments: 1 washer and dryer pair per 6 units
• For high-rise apartments: 1 washer and dryer pair per 20 units

In addition to the number of washers and dryers, also consider capacity. You may want to include at least one or two bigger capacity machines that can handle large loads, such as bedding and towels. 

Accessibility

Making sure your laundry room is accessible to all residents is important. The elderly and disabled populations are often forgotten about — especially when it comes to laundry services — even though they’re a large percentage of renters. You can really set your shared laundry area apart and attract a whole community of qualified renters by focusing on improving and adding accessible features. 

Here are a few ways to improve accessibility in your residential property:

• Include some ADA compliant washers and dryers in the mix. Front-load washers are generally necessary for people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices. 
• Add ramps, lifts, and elevators to allow easy access for everyone.   
• Include wide and automatic doorways for wheelchair users. 
• Design large walkways between machines suitable for wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility devices. 
• Provide large-print and Braille signage for those who are blind or visually impaired. 

Extras & Amenities

It’s important to remember that communal areas of a residential building are an extension of the tenants’ homes. Lounges, fitness areas, storage areas, and, of course, laundry rooms, are usually sold and advertised as perks included within the rent and should be treated as such.

With that in mind, consider what a typical laundry room in a single-family home or a laundromat might have and add those to your space. Some popular “extras” in shared laundry rooms for apartments include:

• Folding tables where customers can easily sort and fold laundry. 
• Drying racks for fabrics that can’t go in the dryer. 
• Utility sink for hand-wash only clothes and stain treatment. 
• Soap vending machines for handy on-site purchases. 
• Free Wi-Fi access so they can multitask while doing laundry. 
• Ironing boards and irons. 

Oftentimes, there’s limited space in the units themselves, so residents will appreciate having extra space to complete their laundry tasks without having to go back and forth multiple times. 

Since it’s an extension of the home, you might also want to consider some decor and design options that make the community laundry area more “homey” and appealing, such as:

• Improved lighting, especially natural light from windows. 
• Comfortable seating. 
• Artwork or paint to brighten up the walls. 
• Plants and greenery. 
• Shelving and cupboards. 
• Chalkboards, bulletin boards, or whiteboards for community announcements. 

Start designing the perfect community laundry room today!

Coin-O-Matic has been helping apartments, condominiums, and other multi-housing facilities throughout Illinois and Indiana design functional and customized laundry rooms since the 1920s. We sell high-quality commercial laundry equipment from top companies like Speed Queen that will help meet all your residents’ laundry needs. If you’re in our service area, let’s talk about your needs and start designing a functional and profitable laundry operation today. 

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