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Need a quick test for whether a city is truly inclusive? Follow the signs to its toilets. We sit down with Gail Ramster from the Royal College of Art’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design to unpack how public restrooms quietly govern freedom of movement, confidence, and dignity—especially for people with continence conditions, disabilities, caregivers, and families on the go.
Gail takes us from Victorian ideals to today’s fractured reality: underfunded municipal facilities on high streets versus the polished, well-maintained restrooms you find in malls and airports. She explains why there’s no single “perfect” accessible toilet—because needs can conflict—and shows how a smarter system offers multiple layouts while raising the usability of standard stalls. Think low-force taps and locks, reachable soap, intuitive wayfinding, and lighting that reduces sensory overload. We dig into the Great British Public Toilet Map, an open-data project featuring roughly 15,000 publicly accessible toilets across the UK, and how that database helps people plan trips with confidence and reveals “toilet deserts” where provision lags.
We also explore culture and technology. From Japan’s Tokyo Toilet project and the wellness-centric mindset to the promise of privacy-preserving data that aligns opening hours and demand, there’s a clear path to better access without compromising dignity. Along the way, we talk about community toilet schemes, the economics behind cleaning and maintenance, and why businesses sometimes benefit from treating restrooms as part of the customer journey. Gail closes with candid advice for early-career designers: be brave, listen deeply, and let lived experience reshape your brief.
If this conversation sparked ideas, subscribe, share with a friend who cares about accessible cities, and leave a review telling us one change that would improve your local public toilets. Your feedback helps more people find the show and keeps these stories flowing.
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Chapters
1. Meet Gail Ramster And Scope (00:00:00)
2. Why Toilets Are Taboo (00:02:17)
3. Funding, Policy, And Access Gaps (00:04:02)
4. Private Sector Versus Public Provision (00:05:17)
5. Mapping Toilets Across The UK (00:06:38)
6. Design Research And Lived Experience (00:09:28)
7. Conflicting Needs In Accessible Design (00:12:28)
8. Global Lessons And Smart Toilets (00:15:48)
9. Data, Technology, And Provision (00:18:12)
10. Community Toilet Schemes’ Tradeoffs (00:20:02)
11. Toilets As Customer Experience (00:23:32)
12. Career Advice And The New Book (00:24:48)
13. Where To Find The Book And Closing (00:26:52)
291 episodes
