This is a brilliantly accessible, engaging, essential and timely book on a subject that means a lot to all of us. It will make sense of the multitude of dimensional toilet design guides around but also raises critical issues rarely mentioned in current texts. Where else could we read about the psychology of using toilets alongside neurodiversity, gender, space requirements, incontinence, toilet rolls and sanitary bins?

Vincent Goodwin, Access and Inclusive Design Consultant, UK

An insightful exploration of the often-overlooked significance of public toilets in urban landscapes. This groundbreaking work sheds light on their essential role in everyday life, prompting readers to reconsider the humble restroom with newfound appreciation.

Anastasios Maragiannis, University of Westminster, UK

It has never been more important for inclusive design research to inform society. Based on 20 years of research and incorporating perspectives from over 500 participants, this book provides a critical overview of public toilet design in the UK and presents an urgent need to re-evaluate the accessibility of, and culture around, these essential spaces.

Public toilets are a vital element of public health infrastructure and an area of the built environment that everyone would use, if they could. Drawing from a rich body of research into toilet design, public services, accessibility and social injustice, Jo-Anne Bichard and Gail Ramster explore the complexities around using these facilities and examine a diverse array of design considerations related to age, disability, neurodiversity and gender. The authors look at the development of toilet design in the UK, discussing examples of successful and failed designs, and present an innovative approach for the future that reframes a space associated with unpleasantness and inaccessibility as one that is essential and respected.

This rigorous study takes into consideration the body’s needs and decision making on leaving home, issues of navigating, locating and entering facilities, and issues related to cubicles, fixtures, products and hygiene. The authors present an inclusive design approach that can help designers, planners and managers create these spaces more effectively and understand what every prospective user might need, with a sense of safety, comfort and dignity.

Les mer
Critically examines public toilet design in the UK and presents an inclusive design approach for widely accessible facilities that can be used by everyone.

List of Figures
Notes on Authors
Preface
Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Designing inclusive public toilets in the twentieth century
Chapter 3. Inclusive design
Chapter 4. Everybody goes
Chapter 5. The journey
Chapter 6. Crossing the threshold
Chapter 7. Closing the door
Chapter 8. In the cubicle
Chapter 9. Water and wellness
Chapter 10. Rethinking public toilet provision
Chapter 11. Conclusion

Recommended Reading
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Les mer
Critically examines public toilet design in the UK and presents an inclusive design approach for widely accessible facilities that can be used by everyone.
Contributes to a global movement towards inclusive design.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781350346048
Publisert
2025-06-26
Utgiver
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Vekt
800 gr
Høyde
236 mm
Bredde
162 mm
Dybde
22 mm
Aldersnivå
U, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet

Om bidragsyterne

Jo-Anne Bichard is Professor of Accessible Design at the Royal College of Art, UK. She is a design anthropologist and has undertaken two of the UK's largest empirical studies on inclusive design and public toilets, focusing on design's success and/or failure to meet users' needs for physical access as well as safety and dignity.

Gail Ramster
is Senior Research Associate in the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art, UK. She is a design researcher focused on people-centered and co-design approaches addressing social challenges. Her research has encompassed service and urban design, digital applications and public toilet design.