DESIGN NAME: PeeFence
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Flexible Urinal
INSPIRATION: As experienced festival goers, we wanted to take on the problem of festival guests urinating up against the fence surrounding the camping area of festivals. Every year festivals and other outdoor events alike are plagued by the intense stench that visitors leave behind when they pass water in the fence as a consequence of lacking toilet facilities. Additionally this behavior often leaves footpaths limited due to the formation of massive puddles of urine.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: PeeFence is a flexible urinal which is easily set up in great quantities at outdoor events. The urinal is made from a tough and lightweight plastic membrane which is foldable for efficient storage and effortless setup. PeeFence is transported in a flat and compact state and is folded on site to establish the trough where the urine can flow. Mounted on fence by only four plastic strips and draining the urine through a simple drainpipe, it has never been easier to implement sanitation at outdoor events.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: PeeFence is conveniently transported in great numbers to the installation site due to its flatness in the unfolded state. At the installation site, PeeFence is mounted on chain-link fence by means of four plastic strips and a trough is folded from the bottom of the membrane. A drain pipe is then plugged onto the trough whereby the urine can be channeled to a septic tank, sewer or nearby shrubbery. People are thus free to pee directly onto the plastic membrane, comprising no risk of obnoxious smells or limiting the footpaths.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in June 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark and was field tested in full scale with 200 units at Roskilde Festival 2015, Juli 2015. The project is under continuous development.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Social Design
|
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: PeeFence is water jet cut from a sheet of LDPE geomembrane. Apart from a vacuum formed funnel drain in the same geomembrane material, the few other parts of PeeFence are standard components, making the urinal highly affordable in production.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: The urinal consists of a 1 mm thick membrane, which is 1130 mm wide and approximately 900 mm tall when it is installed in its folded state.
TAGS: Urinal, Pissoir, Urine, Flexible, Festival, Lightweight, Black, Plastic, Event, Geomembrane
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: The project has its offset in practical field research with the main objective of grasping the mentality and behavior which makes us prefer to pee in the fence, consequently rendering traditional sanitary solutions insufficient. In-context interviews with attendants at music festivals and street events has provided us the crucial insight that people have a true common interest in mitigating the smell and puddles of urine but will only do so if there is a solution in very near proximity when the need to take a pee arises. Thus, PeeFence meets the users at eye level and proximity is at its heart.
CHALLENGE: The major challenge during concept ideation and product development has been to find the right balance between functional efficiency and simplicity. The solution needs to function well in harsh environments and to be as intuitive to use as a regular urinal, whereas the principles of proximity and cost-effectiveness calls for a design and construction that is very simple to produce and distribute. The use of a single piece of folded geomembrane has made the concepts of efficiency and simplicity compliment each other in a design where form follows function in a one to one relationship.
ADDED DATE: 2015-09-01 19:28:21
TEAM MEMBERS (5) : Jonathan Rasmussen, Kirstine Auener, Thomas R. Salling, Theo F. Ginman and Frederik C.V. Hansen
IMAGE CREDITS: All images by PeeFence I/S, 2014-2015
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Registered Community Design. 002723148-0001. PeeFence I/S. 2015. European Union.
|