Renovated parliament building to have 3 types of toilets, including gender inclusive

The renovated Tweede Kamer building in The Hague will have three toilet options when the construction work is done: men’s, women’s, and gender-inclusive, which anyone can use. A committee of parliamentarians recently made this decision, the Telegraaf reports.

The Building Supervision Committee of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, consists of seven MPs and helps make decisions about the building’s large-scale renovations. The committee “can agree with the proposed elaboration of the three types of toilets.

The central government’s real estate agency, Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, told the newspaper that it is not yet certain how many gender-inclusive toilets the Tweede Kamer will have. “The Kamer itself will soon determine the exact number,” a spokesperson said. “But it will, in any case, be possible in many toilet groups in the Kamer building.”

The Building Supervision Committee also recently agreed to lower Section K in the Kamer’s plenary hall. Section K is where members of the Cabinet sit during parliamentary debates. In its current position, Cabinet members look down at the MPs at the interruption microphone - to some parliamentarians’ annoyance, according to the newspaper. By lowering the section by about 37 centimeters, the MPs, Ministers, and State Secretaries will be eye-to-eye.

The Binnenhof, the area in The Hague where many government buildings are located, closed for large-scale renovations at the end of 2021. The Tweede Kamer is currently using a former ministry building next to the train station in The Hague. Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, which is responsible for the renovations, hopes to have them done by the end of 2026.