Opening soon, the Family Toilet – Public Toilet - Where children’s needs take centre stage

Everybody should feel safe, secure and comfortable when using a public toilet and that is one of Danfo’s main aims in achieving. Danfo worked with the City of Helsingborg, Sweden to develop the Family Toilet. This facility designed incorporated a positive, safe, secure and comfortable user experience for both children and adults.

A public toilet building designed entirely to meet the needs of children

According to a study by the City of Helsingborg, children often feel unsafe and uncomfortable when using public toilets. The children described high hand basins, heavy toilet doors, hand driers that were loud and scary, and confusing locking mechanisms on the toilet, all of which made the experience a negative one. In collaboration with the City of Helsingborg, we therefore decided to develop a public toilet building designed entirely to meet the needs of children. Together we hoped to create a safe, fun experience for children while helping to make the city more accessible to families.

Public toilet designed for children

The result was the Family Toilet, a public toilet building equipped with an extra child-sized hand basin, toilet and hand drier. The tiles, panels and facade are covered with fun images, which can be adapted to fit into a desired theme or the local setting. There’s space in the room for a pram, and the building has an automatic door and an elbow switch to make it easy to open and close.

A public toilet with Dinosaur theme and one with an animal theme

The City of Helsingborg is currently installing its first two Family Toilets, one with a dinosaur theme and one with an animal theme. They will open at the beginning of June, during the H22 City Expo. In the zebra toilet at Dockanparken, children will encounter all the animals of the savanna, and may be surprised by tiger tracks and elephant poop on the floor. At Danfo, we’re continuing to develop the concept, offering cities throughout the country an opportunity to adapt their city centre to meet all the residents’ needs. We look forward to new collaborations and have high expectations for the design of our next playful toilet.