TaiKoo Hui Sustainable Design Washroom

As the washroom is located at the basement of the shopping mall, we created a 'bright grotto' as a contemporary abstraction of nature for the shoppers. It consists of three corridors of cubicles, washbasins & urinals. Wall furring was removed, the 'found' round and tilted square columns are painted to form a homogeneous white mass to engage the space with unique shape and angle that hint the underlining structures. White and 'cyclorama' setting is applied to give a bright and clean ambient - walls join the ceiling seamlessly and smoothly with curved surfaces, to diffuse light for plants to duo-function as general lighting.

The renovated washroom design aims at upgrading the original function with surreal experience. It consists of three corridors of cubicles, washbasins & urinals. The new washbasin counter is an all-in-one station. The white counter curves up to join the LED lighting strip, mirror and ceiling as one integral piece, with a tree-shaped icon echoing to its collection of grey water for irrigation. An integrated water tap cum hand dryer product is installed for sustainability and cleanness: it avoid dripping water on counter-top and floor, save spaces and paper towels.

Minimal alterations are made to the original layout, to minimize structural and piping alteration. GRG panels are used to form the curved surfaces.Indoor plants are grown to purify air, raise indoor oxygen level. Irrigation utilizes grey water collected from the wash basins from a local filtration system. The new flooring is an insitu dark grey terrazzo. The demolished sandstone and grey tiles from the original washroom are crushed as aggregates for the new terrazzo, forming unique golden chips to reveal the idea of recycle. An integrated water tap / hand dryer is installed to save paper towels. Water-less urinal, water-saving WC & vacuum toilet are applied to save water usage.

The new washroom was completed and in use on February 2016, and it has successfully raised the attention of the public. Such popular feedback attracts visits of the washroom, which is beneficial to the client of the shopping mall. The vision of sustainability from the client is successfully demonstrated from the design of the new washroom design.

The project was completed on early February 2016 with good quality of work, within a 3-month period. The bright grotto effect is successfully demonstrated with seamless joints, smooth surface, and indirect lighting. Since the washroom is located at the basement of the building, only non-combustible and non-flammable materials could be applied due to local fire regulations. Building materials and products were carefully chosen to achieve the 'grotto'-like seamless space and the vision of sustainability. GRG panels, insitu terrazzo flooring with recycled ceramic chips, environmental certified cubicle panel system, paperless and water-saving sanitary products are selected.