Toilet interior design criteria in preschool education institutional and a user-oriented approach: A study on 36-72 monthly children

Childhood is shown as the period from birth until the age of 18. This period also includes development processes. Development is a multi-faceted, complex process, and in order to keep this process healthy, all aspects of development and spatial factors affecting development must be known. It is important to design spaces where children are users in this direction. Preschool education institutions are an important source of data when it comes to places where children are concentrated as a user. One of the educational processes that take place in the process of continuing preschool education institutions is toilet education. Spatial needs must be met in order to perform this training without any problems. Within the scope of this study, considering the toilet usage preferences of 36-72 months old children, it was examined with a user-oriented approach in line with the design criteria of toilets in preschool education institutions. Legislation regarding preschool education institutions has been examined and data has been collected about the existing structure by making field trips. The data needed for the research were collected with a mosaic approach. In this context, data was collected through semi-structured interview and painting technique with children. Semi-structured interviews were held with experts. The data obtained from the existing structures collected, the data collected from the children and the data obtained from the experts were examined together. As a result, it was determined that the spatial needs and expectations of children in the 36-72 months group as a user of the existing toilet areas in preschool education institutions have varied. Creating the user needs and spatial expectations of the toilet areas in preschool education institutions to contribute to their future lives and their education determined the main framework of this study.