A Swiss company called Zippsafe has designed a new type of locker room.

Intended to cut down on space needs by businesses, Zippsafe's design consists of narrow textile "lockers"—really, a sort of side-access garment bag, containing a plastic valet—that take up far less space than traditional metal lockers.

"Retractable hangers and side pockets neatly organize belongings. With two interior compartments in each bag and a separate shoe drawer at the bottom, clean and dirty items are easy to segregate."

There is a minimal bench surface provided for donning/doffing shoes.

Despite the narrow amount of space allotted to each bag, the company says they can accommodate bulky items like helmets. (The bags simply expand into their neighbors.)

The zippers electronically lock and unlock via RFID cards carried by the employees.

My first thought was, would I want to zip a wet rain jacket into one of these and leave it there all day? The company's solution: "Ventilation is built into the Zippsafe system and continually circulates air through the lockers, drying damp clothing and shoes, and reducing odors. Active carbon filtration in the ventilation system lowers humidity and impedes pathogen growth." On that latter note, they also say the bags can be removed for cleaning, though it's not clear what the procedure is; do these go into a washing machine?

Zippsafe launched in Europe eight years ago, targeting office buildings, department stores, industrial facilities and healthcare facilities. Having found success there, they're now making a push to expand into America.

Here's the system in action:

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