Comfor-functa-blity

Comfort and functionality, combined — a design principle built into the name, and a public restroom designed around every body that needs one.

Brief

Union Square sees enormous daily foot traffic, and the park's existing restroom was undersized and poorly maintained. Of the roughly 1,100 public restrooms across the city, only a small handful are open around the clock — a gap that shows up directly in public urination citations across the city each year. The brief called for a replacement within the same footprint that could actually serve everyone who needed it.

Concept

Comfor-functa-blity is a design principle before it's a building: put the human at the center of the design, all humans, not just the average case. That meant gender-neutral, fully accessible stalls, an adult changing table, and a dedicated ostomy disposal area — considerations most public restrooms skip entirely. Given the traffic the space sees, materials were chosen for durability and easy cleaning over decoration: polished concrete, glass, and stainless steel, with minimal grout. A faceted skylight brings daylight down through the structure, so the result reads as considered rather than purely utilitarian.