'Changyong Gate Outer Restroom'... Wins Silver Award in Beautiful Restroom Competition

On the 15th, Suwon City's Changyong Gate Outer Restroom won the silver award at the awards ceremony for the '8th Beautiful Restroom Grand Prize' held at the Seoul Press Center International Conference Hall, along with the Rhododendron Restroom.

The 'Beautiful Restroom Grand Prize,' jointly hosted by the Central Council for Cultural Civic Movement and Chosun Ilbo and co-organized by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, conducted a recruitment campaign from August 14 to September 30, with a first-round document review and second-round on-site inspection, ultimately selecting 15 beautiful restrooms nationwide in the general category.

In particular, the Changyong Gate Outer Restroom's award marks a second honor following last October's grand prize award from the 'Gyeonggi Province Beautiful Restroom Competition,' with high marks given for beautifully expressing Suwon's image by harmoniously blending traditional and contemporary aesthetics.

The 'Changyong Gate Outer Restroom' public restroom, installed outside the Changyong Gate—the eastern gate of Suwon Hwaseong (華城)—located at 261 Jidong, Paldal-gu, was established in December 2002 to coincide with Hwaseong's UNESCO World Heritage registration. Its exterior, which modernizes Hwaseong's image through geometric transformation of the fortress's beautiful curves, captures the eye.

With an area of 94.08 square meters, the restroom features marble flooring and interior walls made of concrete and glass blocks, while the roof is elegantly constructed with titanium-zinc panels.

Beyond its beautiful exterior, the facility also boasts distinctive convenience amenities thoughtfully designed for visitors, including in-use notification systems, one-touch wash basins, powder rooms in the women's restroom, automatic entrance doors for people with disabilities and the elderly.

Since 1997, Suwon City has been carrying out a 'Beautiful Restroom Development Project,' installing distinctive public restrooms in various areas such as the Firefly Restroom on Gwanggyo Mountain, becoming a benchmarking model for local governments both domestically and internationally.

A city official stated, "This award will serve as an opportunity to accelerate Suwon City's Beautiful Restroom Development Project," and added, "We plan to develop restrooms as spaces of culture and welfare, restrooms that think of the environment and the future."