Some public restrooms are tolerable, and most are definitely not. One at the office complex I work in has an inch-and-a-half wide gap between the door and the frame, which has a tendency, on occasion, to provide us with visions we'd rather burn out of our heads. There is a small ventilation fan, but it is quiet and doesn't move much air.
(I know, "quietude" is supposed to be a cardinal virtue of bathroom fans, but there's really a purpose they serve beyond just moving air.)
At any rate, I was led to ponder: What makes a good bathroom?
Like any good tech-person, I turned to Google and typed in [public bathroom design]. Like a good search engine, Google returned to me a list that included the following great site:
http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/restrooms.cfm
That article contains links to a myriad of other articles about bathroom and locker room design. Loads of professional insight and discussion on issues that hadn't even crossed my mind. Sure, layout is a big one. But what about maintenance? Durability? Use frequency?
The bathrooms in Hong Kong were the best I've ever used. Tall, tall walls and doors that ran all the way down to the floor. (No more matching sounds and shoes!) But those would probably be invitations for vandals, here in the US.
One article talks about no-flow urinals. Cool thing: they have a 'trap' which contains a 'sealant liquid' that floats above water (and any other substance that may be splashed into it). Maintenance involves dumping a gallon of water into the toilet every once in a while to wash away any build-up. No handles, no plugging and exciting overflowing, no nothing. Just a simple, effective system.
The science of bathroom design is flourishing, my friends. Let us all work to encourage more bathroom designers to take advantage of its fruits.