Revolutionizing Outdoor Sanitation: The PeeFence

Flexible, Lightweight Urinal Offers Solution to Outdoor Event Sanitation Challenges

Designed by a team of festival enthusiasts, the PeeFence was inspired by the common problem of festival-goers urinating against fences, creating a foul smell and unsightly puddles. The team set out to tackle this issue head-on, using their own experiences and insights to create a product that would meet users' needs while improving the overall festival experience.

The PeeFence is a flexible urinal made from a tough, lightweight plastic membrane. It is foldable for efficient storage and easy setup, and can be installed in large quantities at outdoor events. The urinal is mounted on a fence using just four plastic strips, and drains urine through a simple drainpipe, making it easier than ever to implement sanitation at outdoor events.

Produced using water jet cutting from a sheet of LDPE geomembrane, the PeeFence is highly affordable. Apart from a vacuum-formed funnel drain made from the same material, the urinal's other components are standard, further reducing production costs. The urinal measures 1130 mm wide and approximately 900 mm tall when installed in its folded state.

The PeeFence was first developed in Copenhagen, Denmark, in June 2014, and was field tested in full scale with 200 units at Roskilde Festival in July 2015. The project is still under continuous development. The design team conducted in-context interviews with attendees at music festivals and street events to gain crucial insights into user behavior and needs, ensuring that the PeeFence meets users at their level and proximity.

The main challenge during the design and development process was finding the right balance between functional efficiency and simplicity. The solution needed to function well in harsh environments and be as intuitive to use as a regular urinal, while also being simple to produce and distribute. The use of a single piece of folded geomembrane allowed the design team to achieve this balance, resulting in a design where form follows function in a one-to-one relationship.

The PeeFence has been recognized for its innovative design and impact, winning the Golden A' Social Design Award in 2016. This award is granted to outstanding, trendsetting creations that reflect the designer's prodigy and wisdom, embodying extraordinary excellence and significantly impacting the world with their desirable characteristics.