A new comfort station nestled in a Staten Island playground snagged a coved design and architecture award this week -- and could serve as the mold for hundreds more throughout the Big Apple.
The Lopez Playground Modular Public Restroom in Fox Hills was one of 24 projects honored at this year's American Institute of Architects New York Design Awards because of its "modular construction method."
"The jury was looking for projects that solve real-world challenges and represent the idea that architecture is for everyone!" Brie Hensold, an urban planner with HASLA and a member of this year's voting jury, told The Post in a statement.
"The Lopez Playground Comfort Station is a small building -- but it is a smart, cost-effective way to solve an everyday problem. We loved that its impact is much bigger than one park. 1100 Architect designed the station to be replicated across the city: the small building can be manufactured off site, which reduces construction time and keeps the Parks Department from having to close a park to build it."
The shipping container-like comfort station is the first of its kind for the Big Apple -- and the modular design means that it was created at a Pennsylvania factory in three pieces that were transported and assembled at the park.
The $3.8 million project took just 4.5 years to complete and was unveiled in March 2024.
The price was higher than a similarly sized bathroom in the Bronx's Soundview Park, which cost $2.1 million but took twice as long to build.
During a visit by The Post on Wednesday, the modular Staten Island restroom appeared well-kept, save for some graffiti on its walls that appeared as though a worker tried and failed to clean.
For the most part, Staten Islanders love their little restroom.
"For a public outside bathroom, this is definitely award-winning. We've been to so many other parks in other boroughs and they are terrible compared to this one," said Sherifat Kasumu, a TSA Worker from Park Hill, pointing to the 4 p.m. closing time as the potential reason the restroom doesn't get trashed.
Dyron Rodriguez, 30, agreed that the public toilets were "award-winning."
"They look all new and fancy ... There's nothing I would change in the bathroom to make it better honestly," Rodriguez said.
"As long as everything's working, and the kids could use it, and it stays clean, that's good to me."
Kanson Louis's only complaint was that the three toilets for each gendered entrance were not enough, sometimes causing a long line and wait on crowded days.
"We've been in the worst bathrooms. Especially on the inside, it's nice. Even at restaurants and things like that, there have been bad bathrooms," Fatima Varo, 32, added.
"There are so many bathrooms where you need a tissue just to open the door because of how dirty they are, but this one is a 10/10."
The design accolade and high praise could mean that more could soon sprout across the Big Apple, though without the alternating blue, white and grey paint streaks that the designers picked specifically to reflect "the neighborhood and community" that the original serves, AIA said.
A red, yellow and orange version is expected to land in Fort Washington Park in the next year or so, and two more have been proposed for Grant Park and Daniel Boone Playground in the Bronx.
Parks plans to reconstruct 36 of its more than 700 comfort stations and is working to add 46 new bathrooms as part of its Better Bathrooms initiative.
"We know that New Yorkers deserve accessible, well-maintained public restrooms and we're working to build them more quickly and efficiently," a spokesperson for the agency told The Post, adding that the prefabricated restroom "allows for increased construction quality control, limits the impact to the public, reduces weather-related delays, and saves time and money."
The award was handed down just two days after Mayor Mamdani pledged $4 million to install up to 30 high-quality modular public restrooms throughout the five boroughs.
The smaller grey, self-cleaning toilets will be scattered in public spaces in the Big Apple but are not being specifically delegated to park spaces.
The City Council revealed in a scathing December report that nearly 200 public restrooms maintained by the city -- mostly by the Parks Department -- were in deplorable states and missing basic amenities like soap and toilet paper.