Dwelling
Laundry sink
housing service yard rural community communal washhouse
A fixed fixture, usually of concrete, with a water basin and a ridged surface for washing clothes by hand. In Costa Rica it is usually in the service yard of the house.
What it solves
It allows soaking, scrubbing and rinsing with little water and no electricity. Under a roof and well ventilated, the sink area also serves to dry clothes in the rainy season.
Today
Place it under a roof, at a height that does not force a bent back, with good light and a trapped drain. Soapy water must go to a treatment system and never to the street.
Common mistake
Leaving it in full sun or in the rain, without a roof, which makes washing hard and unhealthy work.
Tomorrow
The laundry sink is still useful for soaking and hand washing when water or power is lacking. A tank collecting rain from the roof can supply it, and the water from its drain can water the plants in the yard.
Where it comes from
- 1Spanish colonial period and Guatemalan tradition Antigua Guatemala, colonial period and current use
Public washing sinks and washhouses, such as those of the Tanque de la Unión, are still places for meeting and conversation in towns. - 2French public washhouses France, 17th to 20th centuries
After the remodeling of Paris in the 1850s every neighborhood had a free washhouse, and other municipalities received aid to build their own. - 3Dhobi launderers Mumbai, India, since 1890
The Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat brings together rows of open-air washing pens, each with its stone for beating the clothes, where more than 7,000 people work.
See also
Also in Dwelling
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.