#1 : Gallery TOTO

Designer: Klein Dytham Architecture

Location: Narita Airport, Japan

This year, our winner of the Top 10 Best Public Toilet Designs has two uses: it is both a public toilet, and a showroom for TOTO, the leading Japanese toilet manufacturer. 

Located in the Sky Lounge WA, in the departure area of Narita Airport Terminal 2, Gallery TOTO breaks the usual perceptions of toilets as being closed off, dark environments where the user is confronted with a series of miserable, terraced stalls. Klein Dytham architecture, the firm behind the gallery have, instead, conceived the idea of a clear glass box which contains ten individual toilet rooms. 

With the public toilets placed in an open, bright space, Gallery TOTO gives the impression that what is happening inside the restroom can be seen by the outside world - silhouettes behind the toilet screens are clearly visible to the public. 

In reality, the designers worked with low-res LED panels behind fabric screens and created twenty-minute performances for each room - from dance parties to cleaning sequences, water droplets to coloured waves. These sequences come together to form a unique visual experience for both toilet users and for individuals sitting in the airport's lounge space, proving that public toilet design can be spectacularly creative. 

Images ©DAICI ANO