PUBLIC TOILETS, TAKAKA
"Recent local awards have seen one of our creations receive a flush of tributes"
FROM NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS:
Takaka's flamboyant new take on an old institution, the public toilet, impressed the jury at the 2002 New Zealand Institute of Architects Resene Local Awards for Architecture.
"The building is unlike the average public toilet, introducing an element of fun," said jury Convenor John Palmer of Nelson. "The only part of it that is enclosed is the toilet itself. There is a wall separating the handwashing basin from the street and a steel screen that is decorated with silhouetted faces."
The Takaka Public Toilets were designed by Arthouse Architecture in Nelson. The toilets also won a Colour Award for a varied, strong palate the jury said helped dispel "the embarrassment often associated with public toilets."
Completed: 2002
Design: Min Hall, Rita Virtama
Builder: Stephen Chamberlain
Photographs:Elspeth Collier
