Why an architect built a pink toilet in a NSW field – and won an award

Outhouses usually conjure up images of buzzing flies and unpleasant smells but this award-winning ‘Magenta Outhouse’ takes a different approach. The pink, moody ‘loo with a view’ is a toilet, shower and bath in the middle of a field. It won the 2026 Houses Award for best Small Project but it’s kilometres away from any houses and prompts the question: why build it? MORE: ‘Reborn’ Mosman home ‘inundated’ with inquiry ‘Magenta Outhouse’ was designed by Atelier Marks Gaal and won the 2026 ‘Small Project’ category of the House Awards by the Australian Institute of Architects. Picture: Alex Brunton One of the project architects, Josh Marks gave insight into the ‘pink dunny’ and said they aimed to explore the “beauty of light, space and shadow”. “Before the Outhouse, the property had no place to bathe — no amenity for the nearby cabin, for camping gatherings, or for the other houses that share the land,” Mr Marks said. “Deliberately placed kilometres away from any dwelling … the Magenta Outhouse lies within a naturally occurring basin in the midst of a 400 acre Biodynamic Farm. MORE: Vaucluse church now a designer home and up for sale To the right of the basin is the outhouse toilet. Pict...