The Garden Expo Park is located in the Futian District of Shenzhen, featuring a rich natural landscape with various terrains such as slopes, hills, lakes, cliffs, valleys, and jungles. The park also showcases diverse garden styles from around the world, with unique architectural forms. In 2020, the Garden Expo Park launched a public toilet renovation and upgrading project (also known as the "Toilet Revolution"), which includes the construction of seven public toilets, all designed by our firm （REFORM）. This toilet is situated on a gentle slope, surrounded by trees on the north, east, and west sides, while the southern side opens up, adjacent to a park access road.

Challenges:
The project faced three main challenges:

1.Preserving the original site trees: The construction of the toilet had to avoid disturbing the existing trees, ensuring harmony with the natural environment.

2.Optimizing natural ventilation: The design aimed to improve ventilation to effectively reduce unpleasant odors and enhance the user experience.

3.Innovating the city’s image: Drawing inspiration from global garden styles, the project aimed to break away from traditional public toilet designs, giving it a new urban identity and cultural significance.

Walls:

The design consists of 19 parallel walls, each 8-10 meters long and 4 meters high. The walls follow the natural boundary of the forest, shifting back and forth to cleverly avoid the trees that needed to be preserved. The central area is a public washroom, with separate male and female toilets at either end. Facilities like toilet stalls, an accessible restroom, a nursing room, and a makeup room are hidden within the gaps between the walls. The building opens to the north and south, introducing views of the bamboo forest, while being closed off on the east and west sides to ensure privacy.

Arches:

Arches, a classic symbol of Western architecture and a common feature in Chinese garden architecture, are cleverly incorporated into this design. A series of arches run through the walls, creating a flowing space that guides users. The arches are abstracted and arranged in a way that imparts a sense of ceremony to the building. All arches are 3 meters high, with widths of 1.5 meters, 2.8 meters, and 3.6 meters, corresponding to different functional needs for the restroom, corridors, and wash area.

Real and Imaginary:

The walls are decorated with light gray matte ceramic tiles, which are easy to maintain and cost-effective, giving the building a simple and understated appearance. The north and south exterior walls use frosted glass bricks, ensuring privacy while softly bringing the natural landscape inside. The contrast between the glass bricks and the light gray walls enhances the spatial experience. Wooden partitions are also incorporated into the design, adding warmth and intimacy to the space.

Light:

Frosted glass skylights filter direct sunlight into soft, diffused light, creating a serene and museum-like atmosphere. The silhouettes of branches and clouds dance on the skylight, leaving vivid natural traces. A gentle breeze and greenery seep in through openings between the roof and exterior walls, transforming the building into a vessel that absorbs nature. The ample natural light reduces reliance on artificial lighting, promoting energy efficiency. The excellent natural ventilation effectively reduces odors, further improving the user experience.

Conclusion:

Since the launch of the "Toilet Revolution" series of projects in Shenzhen, many municipal toilet projects have opted for standardized modular designs to save costs and improve efficiency. However, given the diverse and dynamic environment of the Garden Expo Park, we avoided using templates and chose instead to tailor the design to the site, ensuring a sensitive and harmonious integration of architecture and landscape. By creating a high-quality space, we have made using the restroom not only a basic physiological need but also an enjoyable experience. It is gratifying to see that users on social media have spontaneously documented their experiences and labeled it as the "most beautiful public toilet." The human-centered design and aesthetic experience can change people's perceptions of public toilets and encourage greater care and respect for urban public facilities. This is the true meaning of the "Toilet Revolution" as we understand it.

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