Public Toilet Strategy 2013 - City of Armadale

APPENDIX 1 – DESIGN GUIDELINES
The City of Armadale should use the following design elements for the upgrading and provision of all future
public toilet facilities:
1. APPLICATION OF CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL
DESIGN (CPTED) PRINCIPLES.
One of the major challenges for the City in providing public toilet facilities is to strike a balance between
security and practicality on the one hand and aesthetics on the other. Too much security promotes a fortress
mentality. Environmental design must reduce criminal activity while maintaining aesthetic standards sought
by architects.
CPTED is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. CPTED
strategies rely upon the ability to influence offender decisions that precede criminal acts.
In terms of effectiveness, a more accurate title for the strategy would be crime deterrence through
environmental design. Research demonstrates that offenders cannot be literally prevented from committing
crimes by using CPTED, as it relies upon changes to the physical environment that will cause an offender to
make certain behavioral decisions. Those changes are crafted so as to encourage behavior, and thus they
deter rather than conclusively "prevent" behavior.
Beyond the attraction of being cost effective in lowering the incidence of crime, CPTED typically reduces the
overall costs of preventing crime. Retrofitting an existing public toilet to meet CPTED can sometimes be
costly, but when incorporated in the original design phase of facility planning, cost of designing to CPTED
principles are often lower than with traditional approaches. Operational costs are often lower also, as CPTED
lighting designs can significantly lower energy use. Also adding to the attraction of CPTED principles to the
provisions of public toilets is that it lowers liability.
This can also be achieved by Natural surveillance: in which residents or adjacent landowners/shopkeepers
casually observe and monitor public toilets in their environment and intercept those who do not belong.
Practically, people must be able to see all the non-private parts of the toilet facility if they are to help prevent
crime.
Many existing public toilets within the CoA were not designed with CPTED in mind and will require significant
changes or even removal. Although modification might be expensive, it is recommended that the Design
Guidelines, as outlined below, be taken into account when Council design or redesign public toilet facilities.
2. LOCATION AND SITING
Public toilets should only be located where the following criteria can be met:
• High traffic and high pedestrian volume
• Picnic and BBQ or site of frequent public/sporting activity
• Opposite or adjacent to a building that provides the opportunity for casual surveillance
• Clearly visible from all or most directions
• As close as practicable to streets, footpaths and car parking areas
• On sites with the capacity/necessary services to handle the effluent.
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