Rethink Public Restroom Structure

As times have changed, so has society’s needs and from those needs have sprung bathroom issues. It’s long past time to rethink the structure of the public restroom.

Going to the loo is something we do year around. However, during the times of year where traveling and outings are at an ultimate high, we find ourselves in need of using the facilities away from home. It can be very stressful finding the right place to go, getting in, getting back out again, and on your way to your destination.

Long standing tradition has bathroom facilities set up as one of two rooms with different internal fixtures to accommodate females (commodes) or males (urinals).

The first renovation to public toilets was to add stalls that accommodated wheelchairs.

The next transition was to create the family bathroom so that a parent could assist their children without the awkwardness of mother’s taking sons in women’s restrooms or father’s taking their daughters in men’s restrooms.

Another adaptation to public facilities was the addition of changing tables for infants in both the family restrooms and women’s restrooms.

Now there is need for transgender facilities. I’m not sure what the expectations are for working out those dynamics…

But seeing a line of blue porta-potties and how the public willingly accesses them, it struck me how we should rethink and reinvent the modern public restroom.

There should no division at all. Every restroom should be total inclusion with minimal privacy.

What??? What did I just say??? Hear me out.

Modern restrooms should be open-ended like a tunnel, a wide walk though. Anyone can readily see how busy it is. The sink counter would be fairly traditional — just a row of sinks accessible to all. As far as I know, the privacy and segregation of the sexes was never about cleaning hands so open counters are fine.

It’s the stalls that change. They would no longer be rows of partitioned toilets in a row. No, they would be modeled more like the private, completely enclosed porta-potties. A long line of these unisex units so that anyone of any age, sex, gender identity, or physical need was not ostracized in any way. Instead, people would be side by side doing their business in total privacy just like a row of those blue porta-potties.

This modern restroom design would eliminate the anxiety of waiting out side for a child, or being trapped inside and bullied or worse. Because it’s open like a tunnel, anyone could see into the public space of washing stations. The privacy would be in the stalls which are now fully enclosed closet type structures. There would continue to be stall units for handicapped and for families that need changing tables. All units would have the urinal/commode. For cleaning, design them so they can be sprayed down and dried. Basically, we now have an inside, sleek outhouse.

. . .

What do you think? Are you with me on this? Wouldn’t this set up be a good modern facility that gives transparency and inclusion, yet fully provides privacy and all the necessary amenities to accommodate every need? Share your thoughts with me.

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First published on Medium.com

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I'm one of those people that like to contemplate issues of the modern age and see if there is a new way to look at an old problem. Having been a child lost in the wrong restroom, and a mother of a child that cringed every time she need to go to the public restroom, this one was high on my list of contemplations. Then, when modern living presents us with even more facets needing to be served by the public restroom, it shot high on my list of contemplations. I truly think that a total remake of these public spaces is in order to meet the needs of modern society.

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