The signs of not enough restrooms can be found all over the world. Without restrooms, everyone from citizens to local governments and businesses suffer the consequences. The recent Hepatitis A epidemic in several major cities has spread quickly because of lacking sanitation and availability of restrooms. The Portland Loo was built for urban locations and was created by the city of Portland, Oregon to solve the cities cleanliness problem. In creating the Portland Loo, we learned the recipe for a successful public restroom that would help solve the restroom crisis everywhere.

 

2008 saw the first experimental Portland Loo installed near the train station in Portland, Oregon. After many successful flushes, the Portland Loo spread to 17 other locations in downtown Portland and surrounding parks. With over 50 locations in 17 states and three countries the Loo is spreading out and solving problems where ever it's installed. 24/7 access to restrooms has reduced public urination violations, kept cities cleaner and brought relief to thousands of users daily.

 

Making the restroom available to everyone and finding the right location is crucial for long term success of the restroom. The Portland Loo was designed with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and should be placed in a landscape that shares CPTED principles. The simple design of the Portland Loo was no coincidence. A restroom that offers complete privacy enables bad behaviors and the Portland Loo had to address this problem to be successful. The unique louver design that allowed limited privacy at the top and bottom of the structure. Making sure the Loo was easy to clean was major request of maintenance staff, leading to the entire structure being coated in anti-graffiti coating.

-The Loo Crew