Book review

This book discusses every aspect of how often we need to ‘poo and wee’ – the authors deliberately use these words to make their book accessible to a wide range of readers. They highlight how our toileting needs change with age, gender, disability, caring responsibilities and medical devices used. They emphasise the need for everyone to be able to use a toilet with dignity.Anyone involved with public toilet provision should read this book. Not least because it’s a joy to read (something that is rare in technical writing), authoritative and an ‘easy read’. The book is a valuable resource to everyone involved: the planners, designers, service operators and clients providing toilets plus the ultimate clients – users who need a wee.Every aspect of the public toilet is discussed, from its location in the street, the entrance foyer, access to the stalls, lighting, cubicle layout for single as well as accompanied users, the toilet bowl and flush mechanism. Not forgetting toilet paper, hand-dryers, décor and cubicle locks – this list barely itemises half of the topics discussed.Despite its title, the book is far more than a design guide. It’s a call to arms, a polemic against the provision of inadequate and difficult-to-use public toilets across the UK. It explains, using a series of user anecdotes and pictures, how bad public toilets can be, but how simple it could be for them to be so much better. The authors also give plenty of examples of public toilets being properly designed and a delight to use.A hierarchy of chapters discusses the journey to and access into the loo, opening and closing the cubicle door, inside the cubicle, cleansing yourself and exiting refreshed ready to continue with your activity. It also discusses how public toilets are cleansed, maintained and staffed, including rethinking the provision of public toilets using alternative providers and funding models for both the capital cost of their provision and the revenue costs for their daily operation and maintenance.Importantly, the book addresses the way that cubicles have become more crowded and hence difficult to use, with the provision of bins for sanitary towels and larger tissue dispensers, but an absence of shelves and hooks for those who need these facilities while they manage clothing or colostomy bags during toilet use. In addition, the authors point out the problems of using a cubicle when accompanied by small children. This underscores the case for good design at the outset and the need to rethink refurbishment when the occasion arises.The book looks at the legislative framework – or rather the lack of a coherent framework – for the provision of public loos from the early Victorian period through to today. Why men have traditionally enjoyed more facilities than women and which public authority is responsible for their provision. It also, briefly, looks at how toilets are provided elsewhere in Europe, Australia and Japan.Each chapter signposts the reader to a comprehensive bibliography referencing appropriate standards such as Building Regulations, British Standards and the Changing Places Guide. While these guides and standards will undoubtably become outdated in the future, the authors point out some of the underpinning reasons for their recommendations, along with some withering criticism for standards that should exist but don’t.If the book has a shortcoming, it’s in two areas.Firstly, public toilets for open-air events, although, admittedly, pop-up toilet provision for the night-time economy is discussed. However, more discussion is required about managing toilet facilities for large open-air events.The second omission is the cost of, and income, from toilets. The authors discuss the historical background of ‘penny in the door’ and, briefly, more recent gated, paid-entry facilities, but not sufficiently to add value to the debate. While they highlight that there is often a business case to show that good toilets create footfall and dwell time in town centres, they omit to mention that the income generated accrues to the shops and businesses not necessarily the operator. While mechanisms such as Business Improvement Districts can help recover these costs, there is always a tension between who supplies the facility and who receives the income. In times of budget stringency, when something must be cut to balance the books, it is always a question of priorities and every stakeholder has their own preferences. It’s often hard to argue for a non-statutory service when other, more high-profile statutory services can argue a more compelling case. Despite that, the alternative of losing provision and the consequences of open defecation in streets and parks is both repulsive and costly to clear and cleanse.An expansion on both of these omissions would be helpful in the next edition.The book is full of illustrations and photographs that underlie both the criticisms and the way things could be so much better with a little more thought at the design stage. Both authors are seasoned researchers who have worked on this topic for many years. They created the online webpage Link to the website of toiletmap. to map the facilities that are available across the UK. It is still ‘work in progress’ and arguably will always remain so but, even so, is a valuable resource as it currently exists.The importance of knowing where and when a toilet is available is essential for many people. There are quotes throughout the book that illustrate the anxieties of those who need certainty of toilet provision to enable them to leave their home, for anything from a quick trip to the shops or when planning a longer journey. While this is particularly so for those with bowel or bladder conditions, it probably applies to everyone at some stage in their life.The lottery of expecting to find a toilet but then finding that it is closed or inaccessible because of some barrier to access is well made. This is particularly the case for someone looking after young children when they, or the adult, needs to use a toilet or change a nappy. The importance of being confident about their opening times, the facilities available, the ability to access them with prams and bags, somewhere that children will be safe and the ability to clean-up after use and deal with medical devices is vividly illustrated.The authors discuss the dilemma that many councils face, dwindling resources and budget cuts leading to cost savings in non-statutory services. While few public toilets are a visitor attraction (albeit some are), a badly designed or poorly maintained one is a disincentive to visitors. One bad experience can easily deter any future visits by them and their friends. Alternatively, good public toilets encourage footfall and dwell time at a destination, both of which lead to more economic activity and regeneration in the area.There is a business case to be made for public toilets, but this can be double edged. Many councils have outsourced their provision to a range of local shops, which is fine when they are in business, but when the local department store or café closes then the provision is lost.The book opens with a jokeIt closes with the serious commentThis is a truism that should not be overlooked by any design manager.