Public Conveniences Lymington

Public toilets are perhaps not the first type of building that comes to mind when thinking about architecture, yet as minor public buildings, they do deserve to be designed with some higher aspirations. We were commissioned in 2002 by New Forest District Council to design a series of replacement public toilets and therefore set ourselves the task of designing a ‘kit of parts’ that could be adapted for different locations. This resulted in a light steel frame, set onto pad foundations and infilled with 150mm thick aerated concrete blockwork to form a ‘solid’ shell that could take a variety of external cladding materials, subject to context. Roofs are in timber construction, lightly insulated to dampen rain noise only as the buildings are unheated and culminate in a rooflight for day lighting. A central service duct allows for all services to be hidden and accessible.