“Bathroom Design 2023”: Competition for students and young architects

For nearly 25 years, Geberit has been organizing the “Bathroom Design” competition for young architects and students, the aim of which is to draw attention to the shortage of public toilets in Polish cities. Thanks to the company’s efforts, which each time takes care to select jury members who are authorities in the field and to choose a well-thought-out location, as well as to offer equipment and help in the development of the project, it was possible to develop four facilities to date – in Kazimierz, Warsaw, Kraków, and Płock.

This year the organizer, Geberit, is running the competition under the Geberit brand, due to the strategic changes that the Koło brand is undergoing in 2023. This is because the products of this popular ceramic brand will become part of the Geberit range in April. The formula of the competition, including the idea behind it and its purpose, has remained unchanged for many years.

In praise of mobility

The partner of this year’s edition is the Association of Polish Architects (SARP), which offers young designers the chance to work in an extremely inspiring context – the Zamoyski Palace. Faithful to the neo-Renaissance style, together with the surrounding garden and the exhibition and conference pavilion, it has for many years been an events venue – for workshops, exhibitions, conferences, summer cinema screenings, or architecture-promoting events in the form of picnics.

The “Bathroom Design 2023” competition is open to architecture students and young architects. Their task will be to design a mobile public toilet to be installed in the garden of the historic Zamoyski Palace on Foksal Street in Warsaw, the seat of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP). The design of the mobile toilet is intended to provide a model solution for toilets located in valuable natural and scenic areas of parks, sports, and recreation facilities, or/and in the vicinity of buildings of high architectural value, including areas and buildings under conservation protection.

The object of the competition should be suitable for installation in various locations, and it is up to the participants in the competition to decide on the specific location of the mobile toilet on the grounds of the garden. The requirement is that products of the Geberit brand are used in the project.

Accessible to everyone and environmentally friendly

It will be essential for the jury members that the toilet can be adapted to the special needs of people with disabilities, their carers, as well as blind and visually impaired people. A key concern for the partner, as well as the competition organizer, is environmental issues. Among other things, the designed toilet should include systems for the collection and treatment of rainwater and greywater. The designed mobile toilet, thanks to its functionalities, should positively influence user behavior in terms of awareness of the value of protected natural resources, ecology, and best practices in accessibility.

The winners will be selected by a panel of experts

A panel of appointed jury members will select the winning project and award honorable mentions and special prizes. In this year’s edition, the “Bathroom Design 2023” Grand Prix is PLN 30,000 and the total prize pool amounts to PLN 60,000.

Distinguished experts were invited to join the jury:

prof. dr hab. inż. arch. Ewa Kuryłowicz – General Designer and Vice President of Kuryłowicz & Associates Architecture studio, SARP Warsaw Jury Member

Agnieszka Kalinowska-Sołtys – Member of the Board of APA Wojciechowski Architekci architecture studio, President of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP)

Szczepan Wroński – founder and partner of the WXCA architecture studio, Member of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP), SARP Competition Jury, and the Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland

Szymon Wojciechowski – President of the Board of APA Wojciechowski Architekci architecture studio, Member of the Mazovian Regional Chamber of Architects, Member of SARP

Marlena Happach – architect and urban planner, Director of the Office of Architecture and Spatial Planning

Dorota Sibińska – architect, co-founder of the Xystudio architecture studio

Agata Twardoch – architect and urban planner, Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Silesian University of Technology

Jacek Tryc – architect, owner of Jacek Tryc – wnętrza studio. Vice President and member of the Management Board of the Association of Interior Architects (SAW)

Jakub Krzysztofik – architect and urban planner, President of SARP Łódź

Aleksandra Wasilkowska – architect, stage designer, owner of the Pracownia ArchitektonicznaAleksandra Wasilkowska architecture studio

dr inż. arch. Jerzy Grochulski – President of SARP in the years 2006-2012, Warsaw University of Technology

Przemysław Powalacz – President of the Management Board of Geberit

Competition schedule

The rules of the competition with detailed project guidelines, location information, and submission rules are available on the website.

Competition entries can be submitted until 9 May – they shall be uploaded via a dedicated platform. The official announcement of the winners will take place on 21 June 2023.

Secretary of the “Bathroom Design 2023” competition on behalf of Geberit is Justyna Zborowska.

The visual identity of the competition, including the poster, was designed by Ada Jarzębowska, a graphic designer and illustrator. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruńand. The OKK! PR agency is responsible for the communication and organization of the competition.

Partner: Association of Polish Architects SARP

Media patronage: Elle Decoration, Architektura i Biznes, Architektura Murator, WhiteMad, LABEL Magazine, Design Alive, designteka.pl, BRYŁA, Domosfera. Also, Magazif, Czas na Wnętrze, Architecture Snob, Design Biznes, Nowa Warszawa, Wirtualna Polska, Design Doc, Weranda.