Soapbox, the winning design by Greenwich graduate Chris Moss, proposed an idea to enable healthy commutes (walking, running and cycling) by providing public showers using harvested rainwater and solar heating. 

Created from reused shipping containers, the units would also be social centres with their wi-fi and gardens. Solar panels would provide both electricity and shade. The elements would, said Moss, provide symbiotic relationships:

1. A storage tank collects rainwater from surrounding buildings and the hub roof areas.
2. The tank feeds directly into the shower units below.
3. There is a storage tank below the shower unit to collect the grey water.
4. The grey water is fed into the garden container and used to irrigate the plants.
5. Seating modules can be connected either to the garden or shower units. Through their solar canopy leaves these supply electricity to power the pumps and filters within the other units as well as wi-fi and power points on board.

This was one of eight projects selected by judges in a competition to propose ways to design healthy places that would promote public health, run jointly by the Landscape Institute and the Garden Museum. The proposals were presented on 30 April at the end of the third day of the museum’s GI week, a seminar on GI and health.

Each of the eight finalists had five minutes in which to present their project to the audience, who then voted for their favourites.

Reblog: This article is reblogged from the Landscape Institute News