Year:  2018
Location:  Winnipeg, MB
Partners:  Downtown Winnipeg BIZ & Siloam Mission
Award:  Winner, 2019 Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Winnipeg (Building & Design) Award; Plan Canada Award

Elderly people, disabled people, people with caregivers, women and children all have their lives limited by the lack of public toilets. The Pop-Up Public Toilet Initiative is a Downtown Winnipeg BIZ–funded venture answering the need for accessible washrooms in Winnipeg’s downtown core. The initiative aims to lead by example, through providing a clean, secure, well-maintained, and attended public washroom facility. This facility is designed to be temporary. The goal is to encourage publicity for future sponsored permanent toilets, through consciousness-raising, an iterative design process, and general public support. With this partnership, Siloam Mission also helped create more opportunities for those experiencing poverty and homelessness to gain work experience as they work toward progress and transition.

The Pop-Up’s highly visible and bright orange iconic structure (a shipping container) plays literally on “pop up.” It features acrylic glazed double walls, which slide *up* smoothly when the facility opens. When closed, the acrylic walls slide back *down.*

*Photography by Jacqueline Young (Stationpoint Photographic)