The Women's Toilet
How can public toilets be designed to strengthen women’s right to public spaces ?
This project addresses the sanitation model for women in the rural parts of the country. It is a holistic model, which accommodates public toilets, bathing units, water collection spaces, washing platforms and a drying yard. Along with sanitation programs the project introduces a gathering and work space for women’s cooperative that can run the facility and develop welfare programs for local women. The project develops around a water harvesting tank that collects, purifies and circulates the water to different parts of the building. The building takes the form of a step well that cascades down towards the water tank. A stone arcade envelopes the water bodies at different levels to house all the functions. RCC construction is expensive in the rural setups, hence, loadbearing stone construction is adopted to utilise locally available materials and craftsmanship.