Andrew Betts’ inspiring toilet.

Andrew Betts is a  London based PHP and JavaScript developer, founder of Assanka, now FT Labs (@FTLabs). He’s one of the team behind the Financial Times’ HTML5 App.

As he showed us round his charming eight-bedroomed Regency home in Kensington, lavatorial pride shone in his eyes.

“Well, since I’ve only lived here 3 years I’ve never had the bathroom done, so the loo predates me. But I like it - it’s solidly engineered, and has no unnecessary adornments or frills. It manages to be elegant, stylish and utilitarian at the same time, and has the dual flush thing which makes it efficient whilst still being able to cope with edge cases. The mechanism is however a bit sensitive - placing anything on top of the cistern tends to cause a slow continuous flush, owing to the slight protrusion of the flush button.

The scales are a recent addition. They measure 7 different body metrics via some kind of clever impedance calculation. However the lack of wireless data syncing or smartphone app means readings must be taken by actually looking at the scale.

The mat is a Homebase purchase I’m particularly pleased with - it’s very absorbent but dries quickly - important in this bathroom as the shower is over a bath with a glass screen and I never find screens very effective at keeping the water off the floor.”

His toilet is open for private viewings, via the usual channels. 

Robin Berjon is co-chair of the W3C DAP Working Group developing specs like Media Capture, Web Intents, Network Information API. He’s recently been elected to the W3C Technical Architecture Group, which is like Sr Tim Berners-Lee’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

As you’d imagine, Robin spends a lot of time Hob-Nobbing with important people (and eating plain old Rich Tea with normal web developers) but we caught up with him in his lovely home in France, where we expected to find a squat toilet. As you can see from the photo, he has a proper English toilet.

Robin explained, “I first shot to international fame and glory  as the inventor of Binary XML. But while I’m not one to rest on my laurels, I do like to rest on my toilet and traditional French loos just don’t allow that. For those who live outside civilisation, the high-tech marvel pictured here is a Bemis NextStep” 

IT’S PINK!!!!!!

“Sadly, no”, replies Robin, beaming indulgently at what is presumably a common misconception among the many visitors to Chateau Berjon. “The light just gives that impression. There’s a teeny little bit of pink on the ‘NextStep’ logo if you can see it, but that’s about it.

This toilet has played a big part in my thinking about handheld devices and as such has shaped my work in the Device APIs group, such as the Vibration API. It is in thinking of this toilet that the Efficient XML Interchange WG decided to make the magic number for EXI $EXI.”

We asked, where’s the loo paper? Don’t tell me that in “civilisation” you eschew such barbarian botty-cleansing cellulose-derived products?

“The loo paper is on the right, but it’s hidden by the door that’s in the foreground”, replied Robin, before jetting off to  meeting with Sir Tim Berners-Lee where, he confided in me, chocolate digestives would be served. “Or those nice pink wafer things. Now bugger off, as I need a pee.” 

Matt Wilcox’s inspiring toilet

He’s been mischaracterised as the Grumpy Young Man of CSS and the Table-Hurling Misanthrope of Adaptive Images, but Matt was warmly welcoming when we travelled to Wales for a tour of his inspiring toilet. “Come in, come in” he beamed as he playfully set Crockford, his barely-houstrained rottweiler, on us because we once published a page with an unencoded ampersand on it.

The obvious first question, Matt: why a wooden seat?

“Well, I rent the flat and that’s what it came with - but I’d prefer wood anyway because it’s nicely insulative and warm on the bum area compared to plastic. And, i suppose there’s the fact that wood is naturally good at killing germs where plastic is not known for its germ repellant tendencies.”

You’re the only web professional so far who openly uses an air freshener, but it’s a mysterious and exotic fragrance. Why do you choose Thai Orchid?

“The odd spicy meal is a decadence of modern life. Alas the after effects are never pleasant, and the gentle smell of a Thai Orchard is both a soothing balm for the nasal passage, and a thematic link to the spicy food. Poetic.”

Lastly, Matt - can you explain the unorthodox choice of flooring?

“That is in fact carpet, not tile. Though there is also tile in the room - it used to be a shared toilet and shower between four flatlets in the 70’s, before the whole floor was re-modeled and became one rented accommodation. Alas, the shower tiles have remained.”

Inspirational indeed.

Steve Faulkner’s inspiring toilet.

Steve says “Utility and adaptability is what inspires me in a toilet. Having a set of scales nearby is a must, for a quick BMI update after getting a load off.”

Steve works The Paciello Group and is the guy I turn to for all kinds of information about accessibility, WAI ARIA and screenreaders. As you’d expect, Steve’s toilet has assistive technology for his children, in the form of a child loo-seat and some steps. Note that he doesn’t have a separate-but-equal toilet for the kids; he’s making reasonable adjustments to the one toilet to accommodate all.

But while the scales and kid seat are obviously shop bought (the scales were £45 from IKEA while the seat was £15 from Argos) the steps are natural wood. Steve told us “As you know, I’m an Australian. When I was at home in Goondiwindi, me and my friends Duane, Wayne and Shane and their wives Charlene, Marlene, Darlene would go Walkabout. One year, in a gigantic sandstorm just south of Naughty Kookaburra in Murwillumbah County, we were forced to take refuge in a hollow log. I kept some of the wood as a souvenir and carved these toilet steps.

“I also had enough wood to fashion my own Didgeridoo, which I play every morning  in an ancient calming ritual called the Hixibegon, before I read the HTML5 mailing lists. But I don’t keep it in the loo, cause that would be disgusting.”

Rachel Andrew is a very inspiring developer, known to millions of readers of her book The CSS3 Anthology as Fire Bush. She has such a close relationship with her toilet that she named her web development agency edgeofmyseat.com.

Rachel invited us into her lovely home, well, downstairs toilet, and explained 

“We rent and so get to enjoy someone else’s idea of the perfect toilet. In our case that means the very best of 1980. I have included the toilet roll holder so you can see it in all its crackle glazed glory. Note also the Roman blind. Very inspirational.

In the 1980s people didn’t believe in heating their downstairs loo so it is freezing and rather damp in here. We do however have a photo of Duke Special on the wall.”  

Rachel’s commitment to design minimalism can be seen by the fact there is no toilet paper on the roll at all. But before you get that panicky feeling, note the bauhausesque spare roll holder behind the loo. It’s positioned on the right of the person sitting there, because members of Rachel’s household are all right-handed. This is a perfect example of researching your target audience before settling on information architecture.

Fire bush does it again!!! 

Eric Meyer’s toilet

“This little beauty is a Kohler lower-use model, capped at a maximum 1.6gal/6L flush, but with an inner bowl shape and exit portal designed with Science! to reduce plug-ups and other nasty surprises. As a result, we mostly keep the plunger there to prevent the kids using it as toy. Again.

I picked the exact model out myself, after agonizing about the choice for whole minutes in the porcelain aisle at the local Home Depot and then wrestling the box into the back of our minivan. Duly installed by rough day-laborers in our brand-new palatial master bathroom, the height is ideal for the adults who use it, and the enlongated bowl is especially useful because— but that would be bragging. As intended, the slight off-white coloration harmonizes with the accompanying toilet paper and room accents, while providing a pleasing contrast to the wood and earth tones surrounding it.

The surrounding space is balanced just so, creating a feeling of comfort without being too crowded. As a crowning touch, the 20-degree angle on the room provides just enough freshness to communicate a feeling of edgy off-kilterism without being too banally outré.”

@aardrian’s inspiring toilet. That’s his bog, and this is his blog.

“A classic American Standard dating from the 1960s with a higher-than
average seat, owing to the elderly previous residents. The seat itself
was swapped out for a plastic American Standard in the same stark white,
making it easier to spot any misfires. The lid on the back of the
toilet is not flat, so placing anything on top will result in its slow
slide into (what hopefully is not) the waiting maw of the toilet. The
water level in the bowl rides a little low on windy days, but otherwise
this full-flow beast seems capable of dealing with whatever post-meals
grace its waiting receptacle.

Set oddly off center on the available wall left space for a lucky find
of a cabinet from TJ Max. The tile floor and wall are original to the
house, though the wall is marred by a previous owner’s ill-fated attempt
to hang a shelf.

Many a CSS experiment or HTML5 missive has come forth on the seat of
this porcelain thinker. Sometimes I vocalize my thought process as I
work through experiments in the air, pretending my shower curtain is a
wall-sized browser display. Though the window is often open, my neighbor
doesn’t seem to mind, probably owing to the fact the she has passed to
the place of the Web 1.0 and Netscape.”

Web designer toilets can be very inspiring, so we’ve asked 20 leading pixel pushers to lift the seat on their poostations .

Web designers spent a lot of time on toilets. That’s no secret. That’s where the magic happens, and that’s also why the right setup of your toilet is extremely important.

We’ve invited  leading web designers from the UK and the US to give us an exclusive look into their toilet, show us their cisterns and explain the plumbing. The resulting showcase provides a fascinating insight into people’s toilet style and the paper they use. As you will see, for example, one roll is rarely enough these days.

Who knows? The pictures that follow may just inspire you to give your own toilet a makeover.

Got an inspiring toilet of your own? Send a photo and description to @brucel! 

Bruce Lawson writes, “I’ve recently had this ensuite made by old friend Matt. I  chose a Bog-o-Matic 2000 from Bathroom World which has a dual-flush mechanism to save water when dismissing a number one, but giving extra flow necessary for the valediction of a stubborn number two. As I share the ensuite with my wife, I am required to put the seat down after the morning micturation, so in order to avoid any harsh noise, we chose a slow-close seat. It was worth the extra £20!

The toilet has a fashionable concealed cistern with a flat top. This is very important, as it allows us to display the conch shells that we found on Namedrop Island.

The floortiles are from Topps Tiles, at 25% discount last Christmas. They have an earthy, terracotta-like colour so, if I squint, I can pretend I’m taking a dump in ancient Athens. The texture is rough, so they’re not slippy if slighty wet from the shower or bad marksmanship caused by inebriation.

Out of shot, but within reach for obvious reasons, is a plain chrome toilet roll holder. We prefer 3-ply, plain white recycled toilet paper. 

On the top left of the cistern, towards the back, is some green tea and tangerine soap that my wife bought for a vast sum from a poncey soap shop in a charming bijou boutique in the markets of the adorable town of Hipsta. You’ve probably never heard of it.