Public toilets are something we take for granted. There are 55 public toilets in the City of Melbourne, so you never have to go too far to find one. That wasn’t always the case though.
The first public toilet was erected in 1859 on the footpath on Bourke St, just near the corner of Elizabeth St. With no sewerage system in place yet, the structure was placed over a gutter and the urine flowed straight into the street. Despite there being plenty of women living in Melbourne, there were no conveniences for them. Their only option was to ask a shopkeeper for use of their toilet. Melbourne’s waste problem was so bad that we earned the nickname of Smelbourne!
It wasn’t until 1902 that the first female public toilet was made available on the corner of Russell St and Bourke St. The council decided that underground toilets would be the most discreet option and save the women using them any embarrassment. That first female toilet is still there, although the below ground space has been filled in with a cement cap and art sculpture installed above ground.
Today we’ll take a look at some of the notable toilets around the city of Melbourne.
CAST IRON TOILETS
Classified by the National Trust, there are a handful of these green cast-iron toilets dotted around Melbourne. Cast by C. Monteath & Sons, an ironfoundry in South Melbourne between 1903 and 1918, there were originally 40 of these toilets which employed a prefabricated interlocking post-and-panel system which allowed them to be easily assembled and disassembled on site. As well as being functional, they were quite ornate by today’s standards.
Originally male urinals, most have now been converted to unisex facilities. They were some of the first public toilets to be connected to Melbourne’s sewerage system and no doubt appreciated by the public as cleaner and more hygienic than the previous options.
LEVEL 35, SOFITEL – THE LOO WITH A VIEW
Possibly the most visited toilets by tourists, the toilets on level 35 of the Sofitel hotel are famous for their floor to ceiling windows with a spectacular view of the Fitzroy Gardens, MCG and on a clear day – all the way out to the Dandenong Ranges.
Whilst you can generally pop in to the toilets without any cost, the Atrium bar also on the 35th floor is a great place for a drink and it’s only fair that if you use their bathrooms you contribute something towards their upkeep.
Do you think if we can’t get tickets to this year’s AFL Grand Final these toilets and a pair of binoculars would do the trick?
RIALTO BUILDING URINALS
The Rialto building which houses the Intercontinental started life as an office building and warehouse, designed by architect William Pitt. It was built in 1892 and is known as one of the grandest buildings in Melbourne.
Around the back, on Flinders Lane is a 5 story corrugated iron structure on the corner of the building. Carefully constructed to blend in with the façade it even has Gothic pointed arch windows, mirroring those on the brick structure.
These are the original urinals for the building and are protected by National Trust. Unfortunately you can no longer see inside the structure, but they serve as a lasting reminder of the very earliest days of Melbourne’s sewerage system.
To check out these urinals and learn more about them, join our Gold Rush era walking tour - https://www.showmemelbourne.com.au/melbourne-life-in-the-gold-rush-walking-tour
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL
As a self-proclaimed public toilet expert, I’m going to go out on a limb and say these are generally one of the cleanest public toilets in the city! You can find them on Collins St, next to the Athenaeum.
Harking back to a day when you actually had to spend a penny to spend a penny, the public toilets under Melbourne Town Hall have retained their art deco charm. They were built in 1925 after much of the town hall was destroyed by fire.
After descending the steps through the decorative wrought iron at the entrance you’ll see the tiled attendant’s cubicle where you would pay to use the facilities. These toilets really are a step back in time. In the 1960s it cost 2p to enter, but now, fortunately, they’re free to use and always clean and well maintained.
VUE DE MONDE AND LUI BAR
Shannon Bennet’s award winning Vue de Monde restaurant and the adjacent Lui Bar on Level 55 of the Rialto are obviously worth visiting in their own right for some of the best food in Melbourne, but did you know they also have some of the most expensive bathrooms in Melbourne?
Designed by the architects at Elenberg Fraser, the opulent bathrooms cost a cool $1 million. A definite step up from the grotty sinks and sandpaper-like toilet paper at some places we’ve been to!
They feature curved metallic walls and circular stone basins with water coming from a tap coming straight down from the ceiling. They even have views rivalling those mentioned above at the Sofitel. The most unusual feature though is in the men’s room where the urinal has been designed so that three men can essentially face each other while using it!
Thanks to Melbourne Patron for use of their image and the inspiration from their blog The Lui Bar (melbournepatron.blogspot.com)
