ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A new iconic public toilet has opened in Tokyo. And there are more to come as the city steps up plans to open a series of state-of-the-art facilities ahead of the Olympics.

Situated in Tokyo's Nabeshima Shoto Park, "The Toilet Village" is the brainchild of Kengo Kuma. He is the architect behind the main venue for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The facility comprises five huts camouflaged by cedar planks and connected by a meandering footpath. The aim is to reflect the parkland environment and provide washroom visitors with the feel of a woodland walk as they use the facility.

The Toilet Village is the ninth of 17 new washrooms to be built as part of the Tokyo Toilet Project, which aims to revitalise facilities in the city'a Shibuya Ward.

Each village "hut" caters for individual needs including baby-change requirements and enhanced wheelchair access. One hut is designed specifically for the use of children while another incorporates changing facilities for people attending park-based events.

Other washrooms in the Tokyo Toilet Project include the Higashi Sanch?me public toilet which has red walls resembling sheets of origami paper, and the Ebisu East Park washroom which takes an underwater theme and features a toilet in the shape of a squid.

And Tokyo's Sendagaya Station now boasts a cube-shaped toilet block that appears from a distance to be hovering above the ground.

The Tokyo Toilet Project was launched by the Nippon Project in co-operation with Shibuya's local government and the Shibuya Tourism Association. It is part of Tokyo's efforts to improve the city's infrastructure before the Olympic Games, which begin on July 23.