Bobrick PRIVADA® Cubicles, Installed: Atlantic Aviation's Birmingham FBO Terminal
Bobrick describes PRIVADA® as "elevated design": thoughtfully crafted minimalist hardware, an invisible aluminum frame, and a signature "floating" effect created by recessed foot pedestals. In the field, the phrase our crews use is simpler: it feels like a room, not a stall.
This year, Restroom Stalls and All furnished and installed PRIVADA® cubicles and matching urinal privacy screens in the terminal restrooms at Atlantic Aviation's fixed base operator (FBO) in Birmingham, Alabama. Below is the configuration that was built, the specification language behind it, and what we've learned about bringing PRIVADA® onto a project, including projects where it wasn't originally specified.
Project details
Project: Atlantic Aviation, FBO terminal and hangars
Location: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, Birmingham, Alabama (BHM)
Architect: DYE | NBA Aviation
Bobrick Representative: Arch Spec, Inc.
General Contractor: Pro Building Systems
Installing Distributor: Restroom Stalls and All
Products: PRIVADA® toilet compartments and PRIVADA® floor-anchored urinal privacy screens
Finish: High Pressure Laminate, dark linear woodgrain
Hardware: 304 stainless steel #4 door hardware with anodized aluminum pedestals
Scope: Six compartments plus a 24-inch urinal privacy screen across the terminal's men's and women's restrooms, within RSA's broader Division 10 package covering the terminal and two adjacent hangars
Why PRIVADA® for a private aviation terminal
An FBO is a hospitality building. Charter passengers, aircraft owners and flight crews move through a handful of rooms, and the restroom is one of them. Bobrick markets PRIVADA® to Class A offices, marquee properties, premium restaurants, and VIP lounges and suites. An FBO terminal sits squarely in that company.
Atlantic Aviation's Birmingham redevelopment makes the point better than we could. The program is a new 6,622-square-foot executive terminal with a lounge, cafe, conference center, crew support areas and valet drop-off, alongside two 32,000-square-foot hangars and 650,000 square feet of new ramp. DYE | NBA Aviation designed it around first-class amenities from the moment a guest arrives by land or by air. A restroom inside that building is doing more than meeting a fixture count.
What makes the system read differently comes down to how it closes sightlines. The guide specification puts it plainly: line-of-sight blocked at all connection points. Door and fascia panel edges are surfaced in anodized aluminum with an interlocking design, hinges are mortised into the edges of the door and fascia, and continuous aluminum U-channels and L-channels tie divider panels to fascia panels and walls. No fasteners are visible from outside the compartment, and none are visible from inside.
Add the occupancy indicator, the self-closing hinge, and a 1-inch finished thickness on doors, fascias and dividers that produces a flush front, and you get what a Bobrick design partner called "an almost room-like environment."
The configuration we installed
PRIVADA® is a floor-anchored, overhead-braced system with a concealed frame and concealed mounting brackets. It is not a ceiling-hung or floor-to-ceiling product, and it isn't trying to be. The privacy comes from the interlocking edge details and the panel height, not from meeting the slab above.
Bobrick's standard build is 72-inch doors, fascias and panels, giving an overall height of 82-1/8 inches to the top of the headrail over a 9-inch floor clearance. (See Bobrick's PRIVADA® product page for full height and clearance options.) A custom option runs components up to 96 inches, for an overall 101-1/8 inches with a 4-inch clearance.
Birmingham was built between those two points: 85-7/8-inch components on 9-inch pedestals, roughly 95 inches overall. That extra height over the standard build is a meaningful part of why the finished restrooms feel enclosed, and it's worth knowing the option exists, because a lot of teams assume PRIVADA® comes one way.
The men's room pairs compartments with a floor-anchored PRIVADA® urinal privacy screen, hardware matched to the partitions. Specifying the screen from the same line is a small decision that carries a lot of the finished look.
The cylindrical pedestals are the detail people notice without being able to name. They support the divider panels, hold the 9-inch toe clearance, and carry +1.5 / -0.5 inches of adjustment for floor variance, which is the feature installers appreciate most, because real floors are never as flat as the drawings.
How PRIVADA® specifies
PRIVADA® is written under Section 10 21 13, Toilet Compartments, typically as toilet compartments with concealed frame and mounting brackets, floor-anchored and overhead-braced, with floor-anchored urinal privacy screens in the same section. Useful details for anyone editing the section:
Finishes. Two options: High Pressure Laminate (ANSI/NEMA LD3, 0.035-inch) or High-Pressure Decorative Wood Veneer Laminate (0.039-inch). Cores are 45 lb density, industrial grade, resin-impregnated particle board in 3-ply construction.
Fire rating. Class B: flame spread index no more than 75, smoke developed index no more than 450 per ASTM E84, per Bobrick's PRIVADA guide specification.
Accessibility. The door handle operates with one hand, without tight grasping, pinching or twisting, at no more than five pounds of force, per ADA and ICC/ANSI A117.1.
Warranty. Ten years on materials and workmanship, and ten years against defects in door hardware, frame and mounting brackets.
Made in the USA. The guide spec allows the architect to require a Certificate of Origin declaring the compartments are wholly manufactured and assembled in the United States, with a notarized certificate at closeout. That matters on public and institutional work, and PRIVADA® can supply it.
Substitutions. Where PRIVADA® is the basis-of-design, a proposed substitute has to document five similar projects of equivalent size installed for at least two years, plus certification of US fabrication. Teams sometimes assume a substitution will be simple and find out late that it isn't. Worth reading before the bid closes.
Installation. The specification is explicit: PRIVADA installation must be performed by a trained and authorized PRIVADA dealer/installer. That requirement is in the manufacturer's own guide spec, not a preference we added.
Planning notes
PRIVADA® is made to order. Bobrick publishes roughly 6 to 8 weeks for HPL and 10 to 12 weeks for wood veneer; on the Birmingham package we planned around a 10-week window, and projects above about fifteen compartments run longer.
The practical takeaway is simply to release the submittal early. PRIVADA® rewards a project that settles finish and hardware selections in design development rather than during procurement, and the schedule takes care of itself from there.
One more planning note, offered as guidance rather than a caveat: PRIVADA® is not intended for wet environments such as showers or adjacent areas, where sustained humidity can affect the substrate. For locker rooms and pool facilities we'd point you toward a phenolic or solid plastic system and keep PRIVADA® where it performs best.
Bringing PRIVADA® onto a project where it wasn't specified
A good number of the PRIVADA® installations we're involved in didn't start life as PRIVADA® projects. A team specifies a standard laminate compartment early, then wants the restrooms to carry more of the building's design intent than the original selection will deliver.
When that happens, we price PRIVADA® alongside the specified system so the design team can see the difference in one view: finish range, hardware, sightline treatment, panel height options, and schedule impact. We carry the full Bobrick partition range, including Evolve and Evolve Max, so the comparison is honest rather than a one-product pitch. Sometimes the answer is to stay with the original selection and put PRIVADA® in the executive or lobby restrooms only. That's a good outcome too.
If you're holding a set of drawings and wondering whether PRIVADA® fits the budget and the schedule, that's a twenty-minute conversation and we're glad to have it.
PRIVADA® in Georgia and the Southeast
Bobrick offers PRIVADA® through limited distribution. Restroom Stalls and All is an authorized PRIVADA® distributor and a trained installing dealer, and we self-perform installation with our own W2 crews rather than subcontracting the work out, which is exactly the arrangement the guide specification contemplates.
We furnish and install PRIVADA® across Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Florida, and we ship nationwide.
Considering PRIVADA® on a project? Send us your restroom plans and elevations and we'll confirm layout, walk you through finish and hardware options, and give you a realistic delivery window. Talk to our team or start a project quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is PRIVADA® a floor-to-ceiling partition system?
No. PRIVADA® is a floor-anchored, overhead-braced system with a concealed frame. Standard components are 72 inches with a 9-inch floor clearance, and custom components run up to 96 inches. The privacy comes from interlocking door and fascia edges that block line-of-sight at every connection point, not from running the panels to the ceiling.
How tall can PRIVADA® compartments be?
Up to 96-inch doors, fascias and panels, for an overall height of 101-1/8 inches to the top of the headrail with a 4-inch floor clearance. The Birmingham terminal used 85-7/8-inch components on 9-inch pedestals.
What section does PRIVADA® fall under?
Section 10 21 13, Toilet Compartments, specified as toilet compartments with concealed frame and mounting brackets, floor-anchored and overhead-braced. Urinal privacy screens are specified in the same section as floor-anchored units with matching hardware.
Who can install PRIVADA®?
The manufacturer's guide specification requires installation by a trained and authorized PRIVADA® dealer/installer. Restroom Stalls and All is an authorized distributor and installing dealer.
What is the lead time?
Bobrick publishes approximately 6 to 8 weeks for High Pressure Laminate and 10 to 12 weeks for wood veneer. Larger packages run longer; confirm at order.
What finishes are available?
High Pressure Laminate and High-Pressure Decorative Wood Veneer Laminate, each with a wide standard color range. Door hardware is anodized aluminum or 304 stainless steel #4, with a hands-free latch available.
Is PRIVADA® made in the United States?
Yes, and the guide specification allows the architect to require a notarized Certificate of Origin confirming it at closeout.
