Managers at the Rochdale Exchange are introducing the squat toilets, also known as Iranian toilets, following demand by shoppers in the diverse town.
Two Nile pans – which the user squats over rather than sits upon - are being installed alongside traditional Western loos in men and women’s toilets.
The town centre mall is home to dozens of top name stores and receives 140,000 visitors each week.
The toilets, which are common in Pakistan and India, are preferred by some Asian families for cultural reasons.
Community activist Ghulam Rasul Shahzad said managers decided to offer a wider range of WCs after attending one of his training courses.
The retired Rochdale council training officer, who also runs community cohesion courses for police, took centre manager Lorenzo O'Reilly and his team on a tour of the town’s central mosque, including a look at its toilets. He said: "The management at the centre were very committed to improving the service they offered to the community and were very responsive.
"We always work together to understand each other from both sides and find a balance.
"That is the beauty of Rochdale. That is why I am proud to be a Rochdalian."
His and hers? Where's the toilet-roll holder and what are the buckets for? *
Squatting toilets are the norm in many countries throughout the world – including China, Japan, Argentina and Turkey.
They are viewed as more hygienic as the body does not touch a possibly unclean surface.
A spokeswoman for the centre said: "We regularly receive cultural awareness training from Ghulam and when we were planning the toilets this was something that cropped up."
*Photographs and captions added by the BPP