Year | 2011
Location | Norwood, Sheffield, UK
Client | Grow Sheffield, LEAF Sheffield
Live Project 06 Allotment Soup began with the brief to look at designing a urinal or composting toilet for the annual Allotment Soup event. Allotment Soup is a yearly creative festival celebrating harvest, this year the festival took place at the Leaf allotments in Norwood. Leaf are a community allotment organisation who cultivate an area of six allotments, and beyond their concerns about the festival were looking to replace their on site portaloo with a more environmental and economical alternative.
The group decided to focus on creating a modular system of construction for a composting toilet housing, as the problem of toilet facilities is common on allotment plots. Due to the limited budget for the project we began by sourcing suitable materials, settling on pallets, which are widely available in standard sizes. A clamping joint was developed which maintained the structural integrity of the individual pallets, whilst also allowing us to create stable walls.
In terms of developing the temporary urinal, we developed a male and female urinal, which each empty into a compost heap through a hose pipe pierced at various intervals, this solution proved successful for the Allotment Soup event. The structure which we have created on the Leaf site is such that it can also house a composting toilet unit which Leaf are planning to purchase for the site, which will give the structure a greater long term use.
Finally, as a legacy for the project, the group ran a workshop demonstrating the construction and materials sourcing methods to other interested allotment holders and environmental groups. We have created a website containing our research and resources, which we hope will allow people to develop the ideas of what we have come to call the ‘Pallet Privy.’
