A future for Bristol’s public toilets?

Thursday, November 28 2013

There is a cafe in the Fitzrovia area of central London in a converted underground Victorian toilet.

Attendant, under Foley Street, even incorporates some of its seating among the original urinals:

There are two cafes in Bristol also in former toilets, Cafe on the Square in Sea Mills and the Downs Tea Room next to the water tower.

The public toilets on Prince Street also once had their own attendant – read their thoughts here alongside a video of the space – and is crying out for a new lease of life as a cafe or bar.

A quick Google reveals that these toilets used to be a popular gay cruising joint (“Crowd: Wide variety. Plenty of older guys, but often young professionals, sometimes students”).

They have been shut for some time, and will remain shut for good now that George Ferguson’s new budget has revealed plans to close all but one of the city’s 23 public toilets.

It will require a leap of imagination, but Prince Street toilets and every other toilet which is likely to close, from Albion Marina to Westbury-on-Trym High Street, could all soon be turned into imaginative new businesses.

Mark Taylor says:

November 28, 2013 at 7:47 am

Good point, Martin. As well as reviewing Cafe on The Square in Shirehampton, I recently visited The Attendant in Fitzrovia and it’s a remarkable transformation (the coffee was fantastic, too). As well as Prince Street, perhaps the disused Victorian toilets on the junction of Park Row and Woodland Road could also be turned into a cafe. It’s a wonderful building and one currently being used for an exhibition.

andrew says:
November 28, 2013 at 9:53 pm
Surely better to mothball these toilets while this mad egomaniacal lunatic is in charge in the hope that a more enlightened ,responsible and community oriented leader takes over. I imagine it’s quite easy to get planning change of use from bog to trendy coffee house but can you imagine applying for change of use from trendy coffee house to bog!