The Origins of the Portland Loo

Portland State University and its alumni are deeply woven into the fabric of the city of Portland. Walking through downtown, PSU’s mark is impossible to miss.

Keep walking, and you might need to find a restroom. As it turns out, Portland State can help with that, too.

With a clean design and an even easier-to-clean unit inside, the striking, stainless-steel Portland Loo has become a mainstay of the downtown Portland landscape. But this unique public bathroom would never have come to be were it not for the students and alumni of Portland State – and none more so than PSU alum Greg Madden.

PSU Beginnings

Greg Madden, B.A. ‘89, has deep Oregon roots. He grew up in Beaverton, then attended PSU’s Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science. Always a hard worker, Madden paid his way through PSU working at his dad’s dry cleaning and laundry business. He graduated with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1989. Madden looks back fondly at his experience at PSU, feeling it opened his eyes to the larger world.

“I really enjoyed the international feel of PSU,” says Madden. “Growing up in Beaverton, I didn’t travel too far to go to college. But I remember you’d meet somebody in an engineering class, talk to them about where they’re from, and then go to the library and look at a globe. It’s pretty mind opening to have that kind of connection with so many fellow students from around the world.”

After graduating, Madden worked as an engineering consultant before joining his brothers at his father’s new staffing business, Madden Industrial Craftsmen (MICI). He then went on to found and lead his company, Madden Fabrication. His wife, Beth Madden, helped to start and grow MICI’s Seattle franchise operations. Together, they continued to invest in and participate in the City of Portland, and Greg Madden’s alma mater, Portland State.

Meeting the Need

As his metal fabrication business grew, Greg Madden’s connection with Portland deepened. At the time, Madden Fabrication was located in northwest Portland, so Madden got involved with the Northwest Industrial Business Association. Through that organization, he began making contacts with the Portland Development Commission (now called Prosper Portland), including City Commissioner Randy Leonard '75.

It was 2006, and Portland was experiencing a surge in its homeless population. City officials, including Mayor Tom Potter and commissioners like Leonard, wanted to address sanitation concerns surrounding this issue. The Mayor’s Office enlisted students from PSU’s Master of Regional and Urban Planning program to assess the state of public toilets in the city. To complete their report, the students collaborated with PHLUSH (Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human), an organization dedicated to promoting toilet access through education and advocacy. Their findings, published in a report titled Going Public!, detailed the number, location, and condition of Portland’s public restrooms.

“They confirmed that there really wasn't any good public toilet solution out there anymore,” says Madden. “Randy [Leonard] pulled from that report and said, well, it looks like we should be building our own.”

Both Madden and Leonard understood that access to sanitary and functional public toilets is not only a key component to public space in a city, but a human right. Public restrooms keep cities cleaner, safer, and more attractive to tourism and business. Access to public sanitation felt more relevant than ever, and something needed to be done. So, Leonard approached Madden with the idea to build a public toilet for the city of Portland.

By the City, For the City

From the outset, designing the Portland Loo was a collaborative process, and Madden drew from his connections across the city to combine input from different bureaus and departments.

“We had parks, we had fire, we had police, we had the building department to make sure it met ADA codes — it was a great team of people,” says Madden. “It was difficult, because every time you had a meeting, somebody would come up with another idea or another change, and then it was back to the drawing board. But we were persistent with it.”

Beyond sanitation, safety and crime prevention were primary concerns. The bathroom also had to be durable and easy to maintain. Each committee had input – the fire department wanted to make sure they could open the door in the case of an emergency; the police department suggested a louvered wall; the parks department preferred a lock system they were accustomed to.

Portland State students also weighed in on the design. Engineering students created a prototype of a locking handle for the door, which became the starting point for the door handle still in use today. Business students delivered a marketing plan, recommending a local company to construct and install the Loos. Madden Fabrication was the natural choice.

“In the end, it took that collaborative effort to develop that very utilitarian, basic, simple design that works,” says Madden. “You have all these little features that we incorporated, but when you dumb it down, it's really like a big iron curtain around a toilet. We joke that there's only one or two things you can do in a Portland Loo.”

The Final Product

The Loo is constructed of a coated stainless steel that is long-lasting and easy to clean. Louvered vents along the bottom provide privacy for the user while also allowing for any necessary monitoring by law enforcement. It can be fully solar-powered, or connected to the grid, and all materials necessary for maintenance are stored in a compartment in the back. And the whole package is affordably priced for a city budget. Over time, a few more features have been added – a baby changing table, sharps disposal, blue light. But in the end, Madden says, the goal is to provide a simple and necessary service.

“It was about serving everyone,” he says. “[Anyone] could use it 24 hours a day, and when they're done using it, any general person in the public can use it, and no one would know if it was filthy a minute ago. They can just hose the whole thing down and clean it up and go. It became what everybody wanted in a toilet.”

Giving Back

Greg Madden is now retired, and has passed operations of his shop and of the Portland Loo to his nephews Chris and Evan Madden. These days, he enjoys traveling, both with his wife Beth, and with old friends from his days at Portland State.

“I still have a lot of friends from PSU. Just last year, we went to Thailand and visited one of my friends from college that I hadn't seen for about 30 years,” says Madden. “He was originally from Thailand, and after graduation, he went back to Thailand. We got to meet him in Bangkok and it was just like old times.”

The Maddens have also traveled to help promote the Portland Loo, which can now be found in nearly sixty locations around the world, including all around the US, Canada as well as New Zealand. However, the first Loo still stands near the Greyhound bus station in the Old Town neighborhood of Portland. Beth Madden says she uses the Loo located on the waterfront while on training runs.

Greg and Beth Madden continue to believe deeply in PSU’s mission and its students. They spend a lot of time on campus, and especially enjoy the athletics.

“We’ve been going to some of the football games, the basketball games,” says Greg. It’s nice to be around youthful people excited about school. It’s fun to see.”

They also remain committed to supporting engineering students. They created the Greg and Beth Madden Family Endowed Scholarship to help engineering students at financial risk of not completing their degree.

“It felt like we could make a big difference here,” says Beth Madden. “Greg benefited so greatly from the education he got here, so it's nice to help others get a better education.”

“I’ve seen the engineering school grow since I was there,” adds Greg Madden. “I’d like to see that it stays successful. I think it’s important, and I want to support it where I can.”