Recently, toilets in the UK have come under fresh scrutiny following a Supreme Court ruling related to biological sex and the Equality Act. However, rather than focusing on limiting access to public restrooms, we should be upset about how few of these essential facilities exist in our cities.

In Victorian London, public toilets were widespread and well-known. They represented important advances in hygiene, civic pride, and gave millions of people the freedom to move about the city comfortably.

Toilets can be more than just functional

Today, the situation is quite the opposite. Over the past decade, more than 40% of public toilets across the UK have shut down, and new ones are rarely built. This shortage became painfully obvious during the pandemic when many councils closed park toilets just when people needed them most, especially since many Londoners could no longer rely on loos in pubs or restaurants.

Architects and designers don’t often discuss toilets, and they’re typically overlooked in design. As Jo-Anne Bichard and Gail Ramster from the RCA Public Toilets Research Unit note, it’s easier to just insert standard designs into plans than rethink how toilets should look and function.

But toilet design can be much more creative and meaningful. For example, the Tokyo Toilet project involved renowned architects designing unique public restrooms across the city. Shigeru Ban created colorful glass structures, and Kengo Kuma designed spaces that feel like walking through a forest. These innovative toilets even featured in the award-winning film Perfect Days.

More importantly, these toilets show Tokyo’s commitment to providing excellent public facilities. As Owen Hatherley points out, these toilets help explain why so many children and elderly people are comfortable and visible in Tokyo’s streets.The idea isn’t just to dress up standard toilets with fancy exteriors—there’s plenty of room to rethink the inside, too. The usual cramped cubicles with narrow doors that force you close in on yourself may save space, but that’s where the benefits end.

Accessibility must be a top priority. Larger, gender-neutral toilets aren’t just essential for wheelchair users—they’re crucial for people with various health needs, caregivers with young children, older adults, pregnant and menstruating women, and transgender individuals.Making toilets more useful benefits everyone.

 

Other features matter too. How easy is it to reach the sink? For some users, it needs to be reachable from the toilet itself. For everyone else, accessible sinks encourage good hygiene, which helps prevent the spread of illness. They also support the use of reusable menstrual products, allowing safe washing and emptying.Unfortunately, many UK councils, strapped for cash, struggle to keep even basic public toilets open and clean. Running a busy public toilet in central London costs between ?60,000 and ?80,000 a year, according to the London Society. But not providing toilets is even more expensive—Westminster City Council spends nearly a million pounds annually cleaning up after people urinating in public.

We need more public toilets, not fewer, and they must be accessible to more people. Taking inspiration from Tokyo Toilet—now a tourist attraction—the key is to add value to public toilets rather than cutting them back to bare minimums to save costs or avoid vandalism. By creating more public benefits, these facilities can make financial and social sense for those who commission them.

Barbara Penner, who wrote Bathroom about the cultural history of sanitation, suggests integrating useful services like kiosks selling essentials, free phone charging stations, and water bottle refill points. These additions could increase foot traffic, generate income, and make toilets an important part of everyday urban life.

Some designers are already embracing this approach. For example, DK-CM’s 2024 renovation of historic toilets in Bruce Grove includes not only a restroom but also community rooms and a caf?. The design cleverly echoes Victorian elements like wood paneling and glazed tiles.

An earlier example is CZWG Architects’ 1994 Turquoise Island, a triangular pavilion housing public toilets alongside a florist kiosk. The florist’s rent helps cover the running costs, while a clock and benches give the space a community feel.

 

Rather than spending so much on fancy summer pavilions, some of those funds could go toward commissioning unique toilets by emerging designers. Architects are well-equipped to solve the tricky challenges of blending uses, ensuring financial sustainability, and maintaining these spaces.

Public toilets have always mattered in cities, but their importance has grown. They encourage people to drive less and use public transport more. They support the dignity and comfort of an aging population and gig economy workers.

As Penner argues, instead of arguing about who can use the few toilets we have, we should demand much greater investment in high-quality, safe, and well-maintained public amenities that serve everyone. Any effort to police access to basic sanitation misses the bigger picture.