Copenhagen, Denmark

One of the most humiliating realities for Middle Eastern and African refugees involves a basic human need: going to the bathroom. 

At camps like Zaatari in Jordan, people walk miles and wait in endless lines to use unsanitary facilities, raising the possibility of disease.

The indignity is particularly crushing for girls and young women, who risk being attacked using communal toilets late at night. 

Others simply try not to go, and risk contracting urinary tract infections.

In response, some refugees have resorted to simply digging pits in the ground and trying to drain the sewage through trenches. 

It’s a grave sanitary hazard that affects more than 2 billion people worldwide.

Now, ICONO’s Peter Bysted and Charlotte Haunch in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen have designed a simple, innovative solution for toilets in refugee camps, particularly for the handicapped with innovative latrine solutions that include new hygienic squatting plates and handicapped accessible latrines.

Though different in design approach compared to the presently used squatting plates, the ICONO squatting plate meets the need for hygienic, safe, and sturdy latrine solutions.

The squatting plate is the result of an innovative design approach based on research and field experience.

The squatting plate is a light, sturdy construction intended for refugee camps and rural areas.

The squatting plate has an integrated pan and can be combined with a self-enclosing mechanism—either the ICONO spring seal or the ICONO silicone seal—that will reduce nuisance from smell and fly infestation.

The plate has rounded corners and a smooth surface without cavities where bacteria might deposit themselves. The form itself offers an improved sense of privacy when squatting.

The squatting plate is easy to install and has excellent material properties.

The pan area is an integral part of the ICONO solution. 

Combined with an innovative and easy-to-mount self-closing mechanism the ICONO squatting plate offers features that address important issues concerning hygiene, user perception, and—not least—smell and fly infestation.

The ICONO squatting plate has been developed following a collaboration between ICONO and the University of Copenhagen resulting in The Child-friendly Latrine Project. The project won the Danish Design Award in 2016 in the category Healthy Life

To accommodate the needs of people with a range of disabilities, and to address UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, ICONO has also developed a toilet for people with disabilities.

The toilet has a raised seat and an integrated armrest which provides a user-friendly, sturdy and lightweight solution. 

The seat is slightly angled forward and the seat narrows in the front in order to secure that the seat is suitable for both children and adults.

The toilet can be mounted with a self-closing mechanism that reduces the smell and flies infestation. 

The ICONO Retrofit Latrine Add-On is designed for people with mobility restrictions in refugee camps.

The ICONO Retrofit Latrine Add-On has been developed for use on existing standard latrine slabs.

Project: ICONO Squatting Plates and Toilets for People with Disabilities
Designers: ICONO A/S
Design Team: Peter Bysted and Charlotte Haunch
Collaborators: The University of Copenhagen
Manufacture: ICONO A/S