Designed by JIM Architecture, the intent for the Surrey park washroom was to create a playful, durable, safe facility that works well within the city’s park contexts. The washroom was designed to be universally accessible, hands-free with no-touch fixtures and configured for solar power. It also features public art panels on all four sides of the structure. Completed in 2020, the design employs a distinct form, strong colours and unique use of materials.
The building materials and systems are designed to make the park washroom safe, secure, durable, and cost-effective. The primary building material used for the design is concrete. The project employs the full potential of contemporary concrete fabrication techniques including strong patterning, corrosion-resistant rebar, colour additives, and new mix designs. The flexibility of concrete improves the performance over similar buildings in a variety of ways such as where the unit requires privacy the concrete will be solid, but the non-corrosive rebar facilitates openings within the patterning to allow daylight and ventilation.
The modular washroom is installed in the City of Surrey’s Maple Green and Chimney Heights parks, with plans to build them in additional parks.
The Surrey park restroom is a finalist in the 2021 Canada’s Best Restroom contest. It is the only one in B.C. The other finalists are Borden Park in Edmonton; Sweet Market Esso Station in Red Deer, AB; The Rooftop in Calgary; and the Toronto Zoo.
