ABOUT US
Public Convenience Ltd
Our mission is to ensure that this public service meets the public need. We help both users and providers find and manage information about public toilets through our Toilet Map project.
Based on our years of consultancy and research we have written the award winning book ‘Designing Inclusive Toilets: Wee the people’ to help architects, designers, planners, providers and members of the public design, plan and build public toilets that meet the public's need.
Academically, Jo-Anne and Gail developed the Public Toilets Research Unit at the RCA. It is the only unit focused on public toilets research in the UK and informs the knowledge we share as Public Convenience Ltd.
We have undertaken a number of research projects that focus on toilets including:
Engaged: A toilet on every high street.
TINKLE: Toilet Innovation and New Knowledge Exchange. A resource website for designers and other toilet researchers
RATS (Robust Accessible Toilets) which developed Publicly Accessible Toilets: An Inclusive Design Guide (2011) and it’s post-pandemic follow-up Publicly Accessible Toilets after COVID-19 (2021).
Tackling Ageing Continence through Theory, Tools and Technology (TACT3) which produced the template of the Toilet Map.
In addition, we have many publications on public toilets, the issues providers and users face and how inclusive design can improve provision.
Who we are
Jo-Anne Bichard PHD
Jo-Anne is Professor of Accessible Design at the Royal College of Art. She completed her PhD titled ‘Extending Architectural Affordance: The case of the Publicly Accessible Toilet’ at UCL. Jo-Anne sits on a number of British Standard committees that focus on toilets. She co-designed the Toilet Audit Tool that we use to assess current provision.
Gail Ramster
Gail is a design consultant. She has worked with the public and providers on the inclusive design of public toilets since 2009. She is also a senior researcher at the Royal College of Art’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. Before this, she worked as a mechanical engineer and signage/wayfinding designer. Gail’s first toilet innovation was ‘Text a Toilet’ (2006), which was adopted by Westminster City Council!
In the media
Jo-Anne & Gail have had media training and recent national media contributions include:
April 2026. Letter published on The Guardian.
April 2026. Gail takes part in Women’s hour responding to a new report on Public Toilets by the Royal Society of Public Health.
July 2025. Gail appeares on BBC Breakfast talking about the Toilet Map.
November 2023. Jo-Anne & Gail were guests on the RCA podcast series talking about Loo-Topia.
Publications
Designing Inclusive Puplic Toilets - Wee the people (2025)
Based on 20 years of research and incorporating perspectives from over 500 participants, this book provides a critical overview of public toilet design in the UK and presents an urgent need to re-evaluate the accessibility of, and culture around these essential spaces.
Publicly Accessible Toilets, an inclusive Design Guide (2011)
The focus on access to the built environment lies at the heart of inclusive design. Ensuring toilet provision is accessible and available to all - especially those with continence concerns - can be considered essential to ensuring that people can move freely about our cities, towns and countryside.
Publicly Accessible Toilets after Covid 19: A 2021 update to inclusive design guidance
The pandemic has shed light on the importance of publicly accessible toilets to people in the UK. In this update to Publicly Accessible Toilets: An Inclusive Design Guide, we show how future toilets can be designed to be more hygienic, and also more accessible and inclusive, as a critical part of public health infrastructure.
Let’s Work Together
We’re always looking for new opportunities and are comfortable working internationally. Please contact us here to enquire about consultancy work, The Toilet Map, or to just talk toilets.
CONTACT US