Thanks Arno for the kind words, with any luck the concept pack will allow the LuLoo design to live on in some form,

Hi Ben,

To reply to your comment:

In the simplest of terms - it doesn't have a method for waste treatment!

We had designed it to work with a water flush system found on train toilets. This was only every for demonstration purposes.

If we continued further with our work, we would have looked at utilising a variety of waste systems, from flush/dry/pit etc!

The concept pack highlights this as an area of development. (A big one!)

I hope this answers your question,

Best regards,

Paul





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Dear Paul,

I'm sorry I feel stupid but I didn't understand what system (flush / dry / which kind) is used with your toilet ?
Could you please detail the following in simple english :
originally the seat and bowl were designed around the premise
that a vacuum flush system would be used with the prototype to showcase an
alternative waste processing method. As a result there is still a traditional flush ‘lip’
between the seat and the bowl. Using other flush methods such as pour flush or a dry
composting toilet would leave this lip redundant and an extra area for cleaning. The
team would recommend moving away from this design if alternative waste processing
methods are to be looked at.

I don't understand where would go excretas, the possible treatment systems you imagined after that, environment for which it was designed etc ...

Thank you very much, and I very much appreciate the wish to share it with plans of molds and techniques to build it.

Best,

Ben

Thanks Paul Mackereth for this post.
This sort of work is exceptional, original and often not given high enough priority or attention within the sector. The success of latrine design is very much linked to behavior and psycho-social attributes. So the methods used in and results from this work are of high value. And the design is not only for the user but the manufacturer and the person doing maintenance. So the LuLoo stands out.

Best wishes in your future work.

Hi All,

At Loughborough University Design School we were working as part of the Re-invent the Toilet Challenge (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) to also focus on User Interface and design (see here on the forum: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/105-pr...h-university-uk#8169).

We created a concept we like to call 'LuLoo,' you can see some of the details here:

www.develop3d.com/blog/2014/08/reinventi...the-developing-world

I have also attached a PDF file of a concept pack we created.

We have created this file, so people and organisations can use our work and research to create this toilet for themselves and continue the development stage that we unfortunately could not.

I myself will be leaving Loughborough Design School tomorrow, but I will try to maintain/begin a presence on this forum. If anyone has any direct questions please direct them to Diane Gyi or Karl Hurn at Loughborough Design School, a quick Google search will get you their details!

All the best and hope someone might find this useful!

Paul



Video of me explaining our design in an interview with Elisabeth von Muench in Delhi in March 2014:





++++++++++++++

Excerpt from the concept pack document:

Design summary
The LuLoo toilet was created by Loughborough Design School at Loughborough
University. It was part of the Re-invent the Toilet Challenge, a global challenge to
address the sanitation crisis in emerging economies.

Our solution is an aspirational toilet for all; achieved by being flexible in manufacture
and design. By taking a complicated traditional ceramic toilet and breaking it down
into three simple components, the manufacturing possibilities become flexible. In
addition, user engagement has ensured that the solution has aesthetic and ergonomic
qualities that are both desirable as well as functional.

This concept pack gives you the ability to use the designs and ideas created by
Loughborough Design School and develop them further for your own sanitation
solutions. We ask that if you use this pack and tools that you read the disclaimer at
the end of this document and give Loughborough University credit where it is due.

[...]

Development recommendations

The toilet design reached initial prototype phase with Loughborough Design School.
Further development is needed to ready the design for manufacture and pilot testing.

The key areas are highlighted below:

Seat and bowl design – originally the seat and bowl were designed around the premise
that a vacuum flush system would be used with the prototype to showcase an
alternative waste processing method. As a result there is still a traditional flush ‘lip’
between the seat and the bowl. Using other flush methods such as pour flush or a dry
composting toilet would leave this lip redundant and an extra area for cleaning. The
team would recommend moving away from this design if alternative waste processing
methods are to be looked at.

Retro fitting existing seats – Loughborough Design School also wanted to explore the
idea of using existing plastic/wooden toilet seats and retrofitting them to the concrete
base, helping to reduce costs further. This would be as an extra option to the exclusive
seat already designed. Fixing points would have to be looked at in regards to assembly
of the retrofit seat and base.

Moulding method of base – currently the base is cast in concrete in an upside-down
position, this allows the product height to be altered by varying the amount of
concrete that is poured into the mould. By casting the base upside-down the air
bubbles during the set raise to the cosmetic surface on the front of the product,
making the surface less attractive and hygienic. The team would recommend looking
at methods to prevent this, casting in the upright position with mould inserts to alter
the height might work in this instance.

Lightweight base – the weight of the base can be heavy. Experiments with textiles as
aggregates and other light weight options in the mix of the concrete could help
reduce the weight of the product.