Public toilets designed to be clean, ventilated and user-friendly

Have you ever asked for information on tourists in public toilets? less likely. This is likely to change soon. A plaza near Charminar in Hyderabad will have a public toilet called Urban Loo which will also serve as a tourist information centre. The plaza, which will also have unisex toilets, is an ‘open concept’ for people to be part of the plaza,” says Kalpit Ashar of MAD(E) in Mumbai who is executing the project. Architects Kalpit Ashar and Mayuri Sisodia Established and managed by, Mad(E) in Mumbai (MIM) has been commissioned by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), to build these urban luges at 53 sites including crematoriums, bus stops and railway stations.

When the first Urban Loo was opened for use at the exit gate of Secunderabad Railway Station, users were amazed at how it was designed and built. A shopkeeper in the area describes it as the best one could have asked for.

Kalpit and Mayuri began rethinking public toilet design four years ago, when the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was in focus in the country. He observed that while people cleaned and sanitized their streets, beaches and sidewalks, public toilets were overlooked. “Public toilets are still dirty,” says Kalpit. “Whenever new toilets were built to ‘improve’ public toilets, it was just a cosmetic change.”

The MIM team worked after a lot of research and design development to create a toilet manifesto and then reached out to various governments. Says Kalpit, “Public toilets are important landmarks of the emerging landscape in any modern city. They speak volumes of who we are as a society. Providing this basic but essential public facility with dignity and comfort is the key to raising the health, hygiene and safety standards in any city. With this vision, we named this project The Urban Loo, which is a new paradigm for good quality public toilets for urban India.

The mission of MIM is “to revolutionize the common man’s experience of using public toilets. In today’s urban lifestyle, when most people spend most of their time outdoors, the need for modern, clean and multi-purpose public toilets is critical,” shares Kalp.

What makes urban loo space different from existing public loo? “We offer state-of-the-art public toilets that are aesthetically designed, energy-efficient, safe and provide a ‘good’ experience to all users. While designing toilets, we first look at the typology of the toilet, which means access to these places should be easy. The moment access is a barrier (due to the location or the way it is made), it becomes useless.

Citing an example, Kalpit explains, “The urban heat outside Secunderabad railway station caters to a large volume of people exiting the station. Taking inspiration from the old clock towers, it has been designed as an urban landmark along with the city clock to build a connection with the people in Secunderabad. The idea is to make the notion of a public toilet from a dirty, smelly and unhygienic building memorable, joyful and airy. Its porous façade enables plenty of sunlight and natural cross-ventilation which helps to ward off bad odor. Due to the skylight in the toilet, no electric light is required during the day. Toilets remain lit and ventilated throughout the day. They are also equipped with shower facilities and waterless/odorless urinals. ,

MiM has so far built toilets on the Mumbai Highway and in seven major cities of Rajasthan. In Jaipur, the team built a loo on the theme of the amphitheater.

What about the maintenance of places after construction? Says the fable, “The idea is to make something so good that no one wants to sabotage it or leave it dirty.”