Youths design their dream public toilets in student competition
Earlier this year, netizens bemoaned the state of Singapore’s public restrooms. They criticised badly maintained toilets and poor user etiquette on the island.
What if we told you that similar sentiments exist in Japan, a country known for its cleanliness?
In 2020, a man named Yanai Koji had a dream to revitalise public toilets in Tokyo’s parks and neighbourhoods.
He called this self-funded endeavour the ‘Tokyo Toilet Project’, which has since produced 17 delightful restrooms across Shibuya.
Source: The Tokyo Toilet
Mr Yanai, director of Fast Retailing, known for its UNIQLO brand, achieved all this in just three years.
He achieved this by collaborating with some of the greatest minds in architecture and design.
Minds like those of Shou Fujimoto and influential partners such as bathroom manufacturer TOTO.
Now, the Tokyo Toilet Project is inspiring students in Singapore to dream big as well.
Photo courtesy of TOTO Asia Oceania
All through a student design contest, organised by TOTO and held in conjunction with Singapore’s Asia Architect Talk 2025.
Some youths have come forward with bold ideas on what they want the island’s toilets to be.
The winning design? A community space that looks more like a playful rest stop than a line of dingy cubicles.
Photo courtesy of the Playpak team.
Winning group imagines a community space in Bedok
William Tan, Howard Budihartono, and Akrapong Kiatkongchayin are the young minds behind Playpak — a public toilet concept designed for Bedok Town Park.
Photo courtesy of TOTO Asia Oceania
The trio, who are full-time students at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), told MS News that the process of creating their winning design was far from straightforward.
Instead of a light-bulb moment, the final concept came to life after weeks of balancing their classes and independent studio time.
The resulting vision is a cluster of canopied restrooms that surround a central space, complete with seating, landscaping, and play areas featuring climbing nets and swings.
Photo courtesy of the Playpak team
“When we got to Bedok Town Park for a site recce, we found that the human traffic was quite high,” said 24-year-old William.
“There were a lot of people running, jogging, and cycling, along the straight path… that’s how we came up with the idea to slow things down.”
Their public toilet concept invites people to pause on their journey, rest, play, and reconnect with nature.
Tokyo sets example on how to improve standard of public toilets
The student competition is a step towards more beautiful and hopefully cleaner toilets in Singapore.
“Public toilets are a visible indicator of the city’s civic culture and the care for its people,” said Professor Erwin Viray.
The professor previously led sustainability initiatives in SUTD as its Chief Sustainability Officer.
He considers public toilets as a part of our everyday life, and places that reflect how we view hygiene.
“As Singapore society evolves, these spaces should too,” added Prof Erwin.
“At the moment, public toilets here are in good condition, but it would be good to look at the example of Tokyo — by having these toilets as a place that people want to see and aspire to be in.”
Source: The Tokyo Toilet
For Mr Yamamura Toru, President of TOTO Asia Oceania, Singapore’s public toilets are “already there” in terms of basic functionality.
“Going up one more level, would be to tackle comfort of the users,” he said.
Mr Yamamura refers to Omotenashi, the Japanese concept of selfless hospitality, when talking about the pleasant atmosphere created by toilets in Japan.
Beyond cleanliness and hygiene, the user should feel cared for — and this comes down to thoughtful design elements such as ventilation, soft lighting, and even touchless features.
Could beautiful toilets become a reality in Singapore?
Good design, according to Prof Erwin, can even help maintain the cleanliness of public toilets.
“Good design can make people feel like they want to care for the toilets, and so they don’t need to depend on anyone to clean it for them,” he said.
“You can maintain the toilets if the people care for them.”
However, Prof Erwin also highlights the importance of a regular cleaning and maintenance plan to set an example for users.
Source: CineD
Mr Yamamura echoes this sentiment, adding that having easy-to-clean washroom products would also help to lighten the load of the cleaning staff.
“Most importantly, everyone plays a part in maintaining cleanliness — not just the cleaners,” he said.
“It is important for users to make this conscious effort to do so.”
As for whether the Tokyo Toilet project can be made a reality in Singapore, that remains to be seen.
However, while Singapore waits for our own brand of aesthetic toilets, perhaps we can — and should — aspire to protect the dignity of even our most humble public spaces.
Also read: ‘First world country but third world behaviour’: Netizens slam dirty toilets & poor toilet etiquette in S’pore
‘First world country but third world behaviour’: Netizens slam dirty toilets & poor toilet etiquette in S’pore
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Featured image courtesy of TOTO Asia Oceania and Playpak team.
