Aiming for restrooms that are easy for everyone to use with peace of mind

Restrooms are available at commercial facilities, train stations, offices, and other places we visit when we are out, and the majority of people are able to use them from day to day without a second thought. However, some people hesitate to use public restrooms because they experience inconvenience or discomfort due to their physical characteristics. These include people who use wheelchairs, people with visual impairments, and ostomates (people living with an ostomy), who are considered social minorities. There are also people, such as transgender people, who have trouble choosing a restroom that works for them.

Using the restroom is something that everyone has to do, and LIXIL saw the fact that there are people who experience inconvenience and discomfort when using public restrooms as a social problem. In collaboration with architect Yuko Nagayama, LIXIL created the Alternative Toilet, a new restroom concept that allows users to choose from a variety of stalls depending on their preferences. Instead of making all stalls “unisex,” the Alternative Toilet is a restroom space that offers a choice of unisex and single-sex stalls in accordance with a situation, as well as stalls for people who use wheelchairs and others. This new proposal for public restrooms is designed to give everyone, including people with disabilities and children, the option to choose a stall that suits their needs beyond gender-based distinctions. Yuta Ishihara, a member of the Space Planning Group at LIXIL Water Technology Japan (LWTJ), LIXIL Corporation, talks about the details of this initiative.

Background and circumstances that led to the creation of the Alternative Toilet

Alternative Toilet spatial layout

In 2015, when we were researching the restroom situation overseas for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we received information from the United States that transgender people were having difficulty using single-sex restrooms. Such knowledge was lacking in Japan, so we asked several parties to cooperate with us in researching the issue. Under the supervision of three architects, we held discussions about all-gender restrooms that can be used by anyone, including transgender people, based on various trials, and considered ideal public restrooms for the future.

First, assuming that all-gender restrooms referred to unisex restrooms, we conducted a questionnaire survey (“LIXIL Office Restroom Attitude Survey 2017”) asking office workers nationwide how they would feel if their office restrooms were shared by both men and women. The results of this survey showed that 65.6% of the respondents did not want to use unisex restrooms. The response rate was particularly high for women, at 86.0%. This prompted one of the architects, Yuko Nagayama, to propose the idea of creating a space that allows people to choose a stall based on their gender or toilet features, making it a restroom that offers everyone a choice and is equally open to all. Instead of the entire restroom being unisex, people can choose their gender or the features they need. The concept of being able to choose led to this space being named the Alternative Toilet.

Challenges in installing and promoting the concept model

In early 2015, the concepts of LGBT and transgender identity were not yet well known in Japan, so it was difficult to gain an understanding within the organization regarding the need for restrooms designed from the perspective of sexual minorities. However, more people gradually began to understand the need for such restrooms, and we were able to gain the cooperation of sales staff. In 2019, a concept model for the Alternative Toilet was installed on the first floor of LIXIL’s former head office building. (LIXIL’s head office was relocated in November 2022.)

The concept model has a community space in the front, a shared area for men and women in the center, a men’s area on the left, and a women’s area on the right. At the entrance to the restroom, there is a digital display that informs users of stall availability and the message “please choose the stall that suits you best.”

There are still some issues to be addressed before these restrooms can be widely adopted in the future. The use of private stalls for men and the fact that users have to choose which stall to use at the entrance result in a lower turnover rate than that of conventional restrooms, making such restrooms difficult to install in places used by many people at once, such as expressway rest areas. There are also cost burdens and security issues depending on the location, among others. However, we hope that people working on architectural design will rise to the challenge of developing the Alternative Toilet, so that everyone can have a choice of restroom.

LIXIL’s goal is restrooms that are easy for everyone to use with peace of mind

We believe that the Alternative Toilet is just one idea, not the sole answer to achieving our goal. For many parties involved, it may feel like a bit of a hassle to achieve restrooms that are easy for everyone to use with peace of mind. However, by reaching a mutual understanding of those hassles, we will be able to overcome them and help many others. At LIXIL, we have been able to get to know many people impacted by restroom design through this activity. We believe that if we can create an environment that makes it easier for those impacted to come forward, more people will get to know their struggles, and this will lead to greater mutual understanding.

Based on the idea that “access to restrooms is a basic human right,” LIXIL will continue to aim for inclusive public restroom spaces that everyone can use comfortably and with peace of mind.