We have been collaborating with Surge Coop since December 2022, to co-design and build alternative sanitation infrastructures for visitors to the Long Wall Ecology Garden in Newham. This collaboration has taken us in all sorts of weird and wonderful directions: following the historic root of the Channelsea river into Stratford, making tiles and toilet inventions out of clay, learning together about the history of the sewage system, imagining future worlds, meeting leeches and pennywort and diatoms through the microscope, and dreaming up a ground breaking accessible compost toilet design made from reclaimed and locally sourced natural materials. The design includes sound installations, a museum of soil, an all-gender urinal, baby changing facility and views over the river. Our hope is to build this out of cob using London clay and local fibres.

In 2023 we realised that we would need need planning permission to bring our grand design into being. Whilst we waited for permission from the council, we built 2 temporary toilets, one of which is still on site and open for use today. We decorated the walls with images and writings from the design process, to tell the story of the project so far.

In November 2024 we were granted permission by the LLDC to build Surge's dream toilet, envisioned by community members during our workshop series. We will soon be seeking funding to do this, so if you would like to support, or get involved in some way do get in touch.