I used to work with a chap who'd disappear off to the loo every morning with a newspaper, which - no doubt - he'd read whilst in the loo as he was always gone for around half an hour. I wonder if he'd have stayed in there for as long, had he been faced with the view offered by the latest winner of the America's Best Restroom Award...

OdySea Aquarium's designers very cleverly placed the washrooms so that users are in a kind of observation tank but of course while you're staring at the fish, they're staring back at you and the thought of sharing with a huge shark such an intimate experience as using the loo may well encourage washroom users to speed up a little. Very clever!

I was struck by the clever design of the washrooms in London's AquaShard when I visited, as the building's designers had really gone to town in creating a room with a view. Having such memorable washrooms just adds to the experience...

I know this industry works really hard to show off its products to their best advantage by creating fabulous room sets, but when you can show off something in this sort of setting, it's quite a rather special, isn't it?

It's odd to be writing about stand-out washrooms today, having this week been sifting through various press releases written to coincide with World Toilet Day (19th November) which highlighted the lack of toilet facilities for millions of people on this planet. I applaud the actions of those who are working hard to redress this huge imbalance.

Decent toilets should be accessible to all, shouldn't they, whether it's in the home, the workplace or places we visit when at leisure?

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Yours,

Jan Hobbs