PUBLIC WASHROOMS
Michael Clesle, Paul Kurti, Norberto Santos, Saman Soleimani-Deilamani, and Kimberly Pigott

In the urban environment many small structures can find an iconic value. London’s famous telephone booths and Paris’ Art Nouveau Metro entrances are evidence of this simple fact: sometimes, the most intriguing and memorable pieces of architecture in an urban setting are the smallest ones.
Public lavatories are a tricky structure to design, and are often avoided or neglected simply because of the taboo surrounding them. In North American cities they are quite often completely out of sight and exist within other private establishments. Even the thought of public washrooms existing as freestanding structures within a North American city can seem unthinkable and unusual to some.
In many European and Asian countries however, thriving tourist industries have helped create a general understanding and need that public lavatories, or any small structure for that matter, if designed carefully and tastefully, can add to the quality of urban life and, in some instances, even become a memorable public installation. The public lavatory in a West London neighbourhood designed by CZWG is a testament to this approach. By incorporating a flower kiosk with that of a public washroom, the architects have been able to transform a traditionally neglected and avoided structure into one that creates a public node for interaction and an image for the neighbourhood.
When comparing local examples within Toronto to those overseas, it was found that many of the local public washrooms lack both identity and attention. One explanation to this problem is that the common place of the shopping mall in North American society has influenced the lack of free standing public washrooms in a negative manner. The harsher climatic conditions of the city could also result in a lack of independent public washrooms.
Public washrooms extend beyond the built structures that stereotypically represent this specific building type. Portable toilets are some such examples, and technological developments have even led to Automated Portable Toilets (APTs).
Although public washrooms are spaces and structures that are not readily discussed, there is no need for their designs to be ignored. Through careful consideration public washrooms can become architectural icons that would compliment the existing fabric of the city, positively adding to previously neglected public spaces.


Public washroom at Dundas Square.

Portable Toilet.












Public washroom at Grange Park.