Third Place 

The whole facility is made of parallel south-north orientation modules. Female and male toilets, each composed of 2 modules, will be guided by oversize toilet signs for wayfinding. An open ‘lounge’ module with foldable seats will be provided between the male and female toilets to serve as entrance and waiting area. Accessible and universal toilets will be grouped with attendant room to form full modules , where as pump room and bio-treatment plant room are located at the east and west ends. Toilet modules provides aisles on both sides of the facilities, therefore separate entry and exit routes can be defined to achieve ‘one way traffic’. Crossovers can thus be avoided. This will also prevent people from waiting in a congested long line for others to finish using the facilities.  Under pandemic situation, this arrangement helps ensure enough social distance among users.

 

Fully retractable and rotatable bioclimatic louver systems are proposed at the roofs and at higher walls, similar to the setting of a bioclimatic pergola.  These louvers harvest daylight and natural ventilation, and provide maintenance access to the roof when retracted. When the weather is determined suitable for natural ventilation through building management system (BMS), the air conditioning units shall be de-energized and louvers shall open. Meanwhile, the mechanical ventilation system shall maintain in operation to maintain the hygiene level. The roof louvers will be completely closed in rainy days or extreme weather, rainwater will flow away through the drainage channels and downspouts at sides of the roof. Modular AC units and solar panels will be installed on top of the modules.  Solar power generated will be connected back to the grid through a dedicated panel and power meter.

 

Anti-vandal stainless steel sanitary ware and wall cladding will be used for this public facility. They are durable and easy to clean, and will not stain, therefore reduce maintenance costs and will achieve a higher level of hygiene. All the sanitary ware will be wall mounted, thus the floor will be easier to clean. The floor is made of anti-slip stainless steel bar grating with self-clean removable drain pans underneath. This design, combine with blower fan, will keep indoor dry and odorless. The provision of touchless faucet with built in hand dryer will ensure that the users can dry their hands immediately after washing hands and will not spill water around. Other touchless facilities include sensor operated partition doors, sensor operated toilet flash valves, etc. All accessories and equipment will be equipped with sensors and chips, and connect to big data cloud, to monitor the usage and to send out alarm signal under certain situations. Exterior walls will be equipped with LED display to show the availability of toilet facilities.

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Parameters

Location: Lok Ma Chau Public Toilet, HK

Project status: Competition design submission date: June 2021

 

Organizer:  Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and Architectural Services Department of Hong Kong S.A.R.