People'S Architecture Office 众建筑

PP Garden

PP Garden
plants wall. Image © Weiqi Jin

PP Garden

People’s Architecture Office

PRINCIPALS
Zhe He, James Shen, Feng Zang

PROJECT ARCHITECT
Jialing Xu

CLIENT
Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation

DESIGN TEAM
Jinghai Sha, Xuecheng Wang

PHOTOGRAPHS
Weiqi Jin

AREA
32 M²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Beijing, China

CATEGORY
Public Architecture

Text description provided by architect.

PP Garden is a gender-neutral public restroom that provides inclusive relief for those that need to relieve themselves and serves as an unlikely social space.

PP Garden
entrance. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office
PP Garden
sink in use. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office

The office building toilet was originally narrow in size, frequently untidy, dim and often smelly. Both men and women frequently had to line up.

The Leping Foundation, a tenant in the building, ultimately decided to refurbish the toilet to align with their mission of social inclusion and openness.

PP Garden
plants wall in use. Image © Weiqi Jin
PP Garden
plants wall in use. Image © Weiqi Jin

The design also considers the cultural context of China where there are residential areas with no private toilets, leading to public toilets commonly used also as places for chit chat and social exchange.

The original men's and women's toilets were unified into one to create the PP Garden.

PP Garden
plants wall in use. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office
PP Garden
modifying plants. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office

Regardless of gender, one can choose any stall to use the toilet. The result is a fairer bathroom.

To encourage interaction, we created large openings in the partition wall that previously divided the space by gender.

PP Garden
plants wall in use. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office
PP Garden
colorful plants wall. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office

Functions such as hand washing, grooming and drying are incorporated into the wall on both sides.

This saves space and the openings serve as an opportunity for informal chatter, as people on either side wash and dry their hands as well as do their make-up.

PP Garden
plants wall. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office
PP Garden
mirror. Image © Weiqi Jin

To enliven the space, we filled the wall with hundreds of different plants.

Selected and cared for by the adjacent offices, the plants can be freely rearranged. The greenery can also provide a topic for a conversation.

To ensure greater convenience, information on the number of empty stalls is displayed in the nearby offices.

PP Garden
plants wall. Image © Weiqi Jin
PP Garden
before and after renovation. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office

People can check the availability of the toilet from the desk and avoid unnecessary queueing.


PP Garden
plants wall in use. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office
PP Garden
view from one side to the other. Image Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office


PP Garden
Courtesy of People’s Architecture Office
PP Garden
before and after renovation


PP Garden
concept analysis
PP Garden
plan


PP Garden
elevation variation GIF
PP Garden
section
PP Garden
elevation variation

People'S Architecture Office 众建筑
T +86 10 65238106
People'S Architecture Office 众建筑
No. 37 Tiaozhou Hutong, Xi Cheng District, Beijing, China 100051 北京市西城区笤帚胡同37号