Designing Inclusive Public Toilets: Wee the People

Published by Bloomsbury, July 2025

Based on two decades of research, Wee the People is a uniquely insightful and comprehensive catalogue of all things public toilet – history, design, function, benefit, politics, policy and future. Its authors, researchers at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art in London, have built their knowledge through a series of public toilet research projects, which include the development of the Great British Toilet Map and the wonderfully titled TINKLE initiative (Toilets INnovation and New Knowledge Exchange). Not to be undone in the application of puns – something the discussion of public toilets inevitably invites – their most recent project, commissioned by the Mayor of London, is entitled “Engaged”.

A dedication to research and personal circumstance underpin the authors’ vested interest in the inclusive provision of public toilets, and this is reflected in the depth and breadth of views and perspectives shared throughout the book. What emerges, as they explain in the introduction, is part inclusive design guide for architects and “commissioners of loos”, and part manifesto for the public. Both parts are supported with ample evidence to justify to politicians and policymakers that public toilets can and should be available and accessible to all.

The book’s starting point is an acknowledgement that while public toilets are an essential civilising element of our built environment, they are also taboo in discussions amongst both providers and users. This is evidenced through a survey from one of the authors’ research projects, which showed a “love- hate relationship with public toilets – we prefer not to use them due to their bad reputation but value them as community assets”.

Lockdown exposed this dramatically, providing a glimpse of life without this civic amenity as many people, encouraged by the government to undertake daily outdoor exercise, needed to “plan around their continence” as public toilets were closed. And while health awareness since then has been amplified, the reopening of public toilets has been hampered by a blend of social, political and fiscal avoidance.

This ongoing reluctance to meet the basic needs of people is characteristic of what the authors describe as a place where nature meets culture. The public toilet manifests politics, rights of access, social rules and etiquette, personal hygiene and a bad reputation – and “these issues push design beyond merely meeting the functional needs of the body”.

In seeking to “give you, the reader, a glimpse into the complexity of taking a wee in public” the authors set out chapters focusing on history, inclusive design, functional characteristics, and user needs, ultimately leading to the big question – what does “Loo-topia” look like and how do we design it? It’s a deeply forensic read but written in a common, sometimes slangish, vernacular. A generous use of photos to illustrate discussion points eases the flow (!) and reinforces arguments.

Some key takeaways:

• The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London featured “halting stations” aka public toilets which could be accessed for one penny. Hence the expression “spend a penny”.
• Up until the Public Health Act of 1936 public toilets were provided for men only, and while women then gained access they had to pay for cubicles while urinals remained free. This was amended only in 2008 under the Sex Discrimination Act, which removed the urinal exemption, and stated that public toilets must incur the same charge to all users or be provided free of charge.
• Designing inclusive public toilets means including people in the design process – which encompasses multiple user needs, architecture, product and service specifications – making the provision of public toilets one of the most regulated public spaces in the UK built environment
• User needs are wide ranging and change throughout the lives of individuals and communities, relating to age, gender, disease, treatment for disease, social circumstance. This means two things: everyone “has to go” outside the home and the need shifts throughout your life; and one size doesn’t fit all.
• There are many examples of best practice, including the now legendary Tokyo Toilet Project, featured in the wonderful film Perfect Days.

And now for the big finale: How do we design loo-topia?

• The perception and reality of public toilets can benefit from an overall trend toward “wellness”, and designers and providers must embrace this
• Given there is no legal requirement for local authorities to provide public toilets in the UK, we must find ways to make them socially and commercially attractive and worthy of investment
• From a commercial perspective, an encouraging approach is demonstrated by 2 the Loo which provides a unique payment scheme to support its operation
• Regeneration officers have reported that public toilets are often mentioned by the public during initial community engagement processes– but loses its momentum through the development process. The authors comment on the “competing demands from urban designers, developers and constructors which diminish the need for toilets and drown out the community voice”
• Providing temporary toilets on development sites “would demonstrate the importance and commitment and to test different designs – ensuring that when a site is developed toilets are recognised as a key part of a public area and part of the neighbourhood regeneration”

As a keen advocate of public toilets and their contribution to civic life and public health, I applaud Wee the People and its authors for bringing rigour and positivity to what has too often been an emotive and negative discourse. The complexity underlying the provision of something so essential as public toilets will be a revelation to many. As the authors comment in their concluding remarks, “Public toilets are the petri dish of accessibility where every challenge of the built environment comes together in one facility”. Let’s hope Wee the People convinces our government and energises its people to meet these challenges.