Within various - if not all - architectural programs, there is a function that is an essential and common requirement: the bathroom. A residence, office, commercial space, theater, museum, religious space, park, or school can only be designed with it. In some countries, public toilets are part of urban infrastructure like public transport or waste collection. A fundamental human right, although denied to a considerable portion of the global population, the toilet follows a historical evolution. Modernity brought with it the separation between public and private, and the room became increasingly reserved in Western society.
However, this environment can sometimes be reduced to a mere technical requirement, with minimal spaces favoring more valued social environments. Despite its restricted area, it presents a high technical complexity, contributing to more standardized and less explored layouts. Nevertheless, some projects take advantage of more restrictive situations to break down or invert the image of the standard bathroom. The result is the expansion of project possibilities and the evaluation of such a “protocolar” environment.
Bathrooms have been part of interior design for a long time, and in many cases, they receive finishes and materials with as much attention as the rest of the program. In addition, their use also depends on the occupant's cultural factor, the country where the project is, and whether it is a public or private space. For each of these possibilities, bathrooms can respond and reveal other forms of use, layouts, materials, or placements.
Bathrooms With Generous Views
Casa da Mata Restrooms / Luiza Jung Arquitetura 360
“In a semicircle, the wooden volumes that hold the sanitary units are arranged. These, in turn, were designed individually to facilitate layout distribution among the trees; and have a trapezoidal shape that widens on the glazed side facing the forest, offering privacy and an exclusive view of the interior of each cabin.”
Kangaroo Valley Outhouse / Madeleine Blanchfield Architects
“The bathroom/outhouse is situated low on a hillside about 30m from the accommodation and accessed via a pathway through a dense landscape. It is a mirrored cube elevated above the existing ground and nestled in vegetation. The outhouse structure completely disappears during the day. It reflects the lush landscape and only the subtle lines of the cube’s edges are visually legible. When in the bathroom the walls are all glass and there is no impediment to the view of the surrounding landscape.”
Urban Oasis - Hotel Room / Natan Gil Arquitetura
“Focusing on the contrasts between the colors and materials used, seeing a concrete block from the outside, and entering a space of calm. In the development of the project layout, the position of the bed, water mirror, and bathtub was defined so that there is the connection of the space with the outside and so that the focus is on the landscape that connects and is reflected.”
Bathrooms in Historical or Traditional Architectures
Borgo Gallana Bed & Breakfast / Studio Andrew Trotter
“Architecturally, vaulted ceilings and cement floors were used throughout the whole property. Local sandstone “tufo” is the main material used for the construction of structures. The bespoke bathroom sinks and the Studio designed kitchen tops are locally made.”
Summer Cave House in Santorini / Kapsimalis Architects
“The main idea of the proposal is the exploitation of the existing cave-house’s amorphous curves into a sculptural living space […] The design of the summer house is totally integrated in the volcanic landscape and the cubistic architecture of Santorini in a more contemporary twist.”
House Z22 and Warehouse F88 / Gus Wüstemann Architects
“We removed the original plaster layers. It led to a raw state of the natural stone walls, which never existed. It is a reference to the material, the construction and the 'work' itself.”
Bathrooms With Dramatic Natural Light
Coral House / Recoveco Taller de Arquitectura
“The material proposal was consolidated by embracing the neutrality of the gray tones of polished cement in contrast to natural light, which allowed us to shade the living spaces with abundant natural light, as well as attenuate the privacy in the rooms and bathrooms.”
Eido Bathroom / QOZ Arquitetos
“The volume variation brings a play of light and shadow that transforms into a clean and contemporary architecture, marked by the junction between elements integrated by the composition of different textures converging in a single language.”
Nantou Public Toilet / Edge Studio
“The roof is a titanium zinc standing seam system, and the ceiling is a dry-hanging aluminum single veneer system. Through the design of a double-layer cornice, it becomes an integrated roof, which is completely separated from the enclosure structure of the metal curtain wall. This is a "floating" roof. […] The four units and the low, smooth roof redefine the space under the forest, which the architects call the 'garden of leaves'."
Bathrooms With Unconventional Materials
Cuernavaca Guest Bathrooms / Mario Herrera Holgado
“In the contained space inside the small triangular pavilion, the cells house the functions of a toilet, dressing room, and shower. They create a second level of contained spaces when the user so requires, but they can also expand and merge with each other by folding the doors, creating a kind of almost maze-like space, where the body wanders to experience its function.”
Trail Restroom / Miró Rivera Architects
“The Restroom was conceived as a sculpture in a park, a dynamic object along the active trails. The structure consists of forty-nine 3/4" thick vertical Corten steel plates whose width and height vary significantly in size, from 1'-0" wide by 1'-6" high to 2'-0" wide by 13'-0" high. The panels are arranged along a spine that coils at one end to form the restroom walls. The plates are staggered in plan to control views and to allow for the penetration of light and fresh air. Both the door and roof were fabricated from 3/4" thick steel plates as well.”
Bathroom on the 15th Floor of an Elevator
“According to Hernández Silva Arquitectos, a notable feature of the project is that the appropriate space was originally thought for a second elevator that was never installed, as it was converted into a bathroom with a glass floor, which has the particularity of looking down on the 15 levels below.”
Bathrooms With Very Limited Area
Kitnet Copan / Garoa
“The bathroom was reorganized with a concrete bench with a curve that coincides with the apartment's external wall, which becomes a support bench when it reaches the shower stall. The bathroom and the rest of the property received a monolithic epoxy floor, easy to clean.”
Viadutos Apartment / Vão
“The concrete countertop functionality also assisted in the organization and space gain, because the laundry, kitchen and bathroom utensils are embedded in it, separated by a mirror suspended on the countertop. As it was the only closed environment and with little incidence of natural light, the bathroom was embraced by panels of translucent glass instead of masonry.”
