A Tale of Two Toilets
Two very distinct yet similar toilets in the Bay of Islands.
Throughout my travels across New Zealand, I've seen some bizarre and fantastical toilets, each with its unique way of handling privacy, accessibility, and details/ornamentation. In this article, I will write more specifically about the two that stood out most. Both are within the Bay of Islands' historic towns of Waitangi and Kawakawa. While the duel has striking views on preservation, the contrast between them could not be more different: one private, one public. One contemporary and one early modern/art nouveau. I've never thought I would find restrooms with interesting architectural details, but I was pleasantly surprised by their exceptional character.
Waitangi Toilet Block by HB Architecture, Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Often called the 'Birthplace of our Nation,' Waitangi is where the first major peace treaty between the European settlers and Maori Chiefs was signed. It also declared New Zealand's independence, which England recognized. Throughout New Zealand, the treaty and its grounds have held significant importance. The site is now primarily a museum educating the public on the event's history. The museum additions from the recent renovation finished construction in 2021 and opened in 2023 after the global pandemic. The site and restrooms are nested between a small forest. They are glass and steel buildings with wood shading fins on its facade.
The toilet's footprint is sunken and partially hidden by the landscape and vegetation, which obscure its size and shape. The vertical wood fins hide the glass facade behind it, but they also create a texture that mimics the surrounding forest.
The building is placed with exceptional care between the forest trees, so much so that a lone tree stands in the middle of the entrances. In many other cultures, that tree would be the first to go to create an unobstructed entry. But here, it perfectly subdivides the building (and the sexes), creating perfect symmetry between the two sides of the building and asymmetry of the landscape. This is also the only tree where the ground is flattened, while all trees around the site are slightly raised. It may have meant to be the waiting area.
Because trees always shade the building, the designers used glass as the facade and frosted sections to create privacy at specific heights. The glass is angled such that the reflections are not so obvious. It also allows the interior space to expand and contract. There are skylights and clearstory windows to let in additional light. The interior space is split into the front and back. The front is for washing your hands and checking up on your appearance. The back is a solid wall for complete privacy and also where the plumbing wall is located.
The water flows right into the raised landscape. No rain gutters create a sharp roofline detail from the standing seam metal roof (90% of all roofs in New Zealand are metal).
Some of the details remind me of the Nezu Museum by Kengo Kuma. Its location/orientation and choice of materials all fit the environment very well. It is quality architecture hidden inside the walls of the museum grounds.
Hundertwasser Toilets, Kawakawa by Friedensreich Hundertwasser
The Hundertwasser Toilets are the complete opposite of the Waitangi toilets. It is public and located in an urban setting. Because it is situated on State Highway 1 and is a busy tourist route, these are now regarded as the most photographed public toilets in the world. The building (along with a few others on Gillies St) was designed by the eccentric Austrian/New Zealand artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The toilets are flanking the front of Te Hononga Plaza and the library/community center. The building draws a lot of influences from the Neo-Plasticism movement and the well-known reuse culture in New Zealand. There's heavy use of local and recycled materials, curves/circles, and colors mixed in with natural materials. The color scheme (used in many of Mondrian's paintings) is found throughout the city and influences the Te Hononga building behind it.
The building is split into three bays, one as an alley to the gardens in the back and one bay per gender. The sizing of the bays creates asymmetry in the building; Hundertwasser distinguishes the bays by using arched fascia on the toilet side and flat on the alley. Much like the Waitangi Toilets, a solo tree (London Plane) sits in the middle of the building. However, the Hundertwasser Toilets encircled it, making it a focal point. The construction of Te Hononga Plaza required a waiting/assembly area for the toilets, and thus, the benches were added.
The green roof sports a variety of vegetation and artwork. Some columns run through the roofline. Most importantly, the skylights allow light into the toilets. The trees and vegetation were recently pruned because they were getting too big and perhaps blocking the skylights. The toilets could use a light restoration but are aging gracefully. Here's what they looked like 15 years ago.
The texture of the columns and walls is fantastically varied. The natural colors of the bricks stand out from the glazed and painted concrete. Some of the walls that require privacy and light have a variety of glass bottles embedded into the concrete. The colored bottles refract the light, so there is no clear view into the inside. The textures of the exterior extend into the interiors of the toilets themselves. The subtle changes of colors and sizes between each tile and the different light hues from the glass bottles create a unique toilet experience. The curved wooden beams are exposed, and the toilet uses curves around the corners of doors and some window openings. Using the toilets feels like I am inside of a Mondrian painting.
Despite being from two different times and styles, the Waitangi and Hundertwasser toilets have much more in common. The two felt oddly similar in how they were built around their respective trees and how they minimized artificial lighting by letting natural light into the interior. What makes these toilets a work of architecture is not their style but rather how they used what was available at the time to create unique and quality spaces.
Runner ups:
This article is part of a series during my year-long sabbatical. If you enjoyed this article or the images, make sure to give it a like. If you loved it, follow me on Instagram and find more of my work at www.georgexlin.com.
