Bathrooms can no longer exist behind closed doors

Small spaces may drive integration of bathroom into living space

24 May, 19

Experts expressed there is little differentiation between hotel and residential bathrooms saying they were “interchangeable” and added, for small spaces, they can no longer exist as a separate entity.

Bathrooms can no longer exist behind closed door

 

Speaking at the TOTO talk “Hotel Design for Global Travellers” at Clerkwenwell Design Week, creative director of Edwardian Hotel London Rob Steul said hotels previously led residential bathrooms in terms of bathroom design.

He said hotel bathroom design was something guests would aspire to, as opposed to a residential experience but then homes had become as good or better than standard, chain hotels.

Sponsored Video

Rob Steul continued: “So we’ve up-ended it. What we’re now seeing is a blending of the two – so hotel and residential [bathroom] design is almost interchangeable.”

However he expressed: “People are looking for ideas, they are looking for experiences that maybe they don’t have at home but they could if they wanted to. Staying in a hotel is almost like shopping for ideas.”

Managing director of RPW Design Ariane Steinbeck agreed, consumers are looking for experiences both in hospitality and in home bathroom design.

She stated: “What we are seeing more and more is the great experience of a hotel is flowing into apartments.

“I think where things are really heading right now is to provide an experience – no matter if it’s resi, hotel or restaurant.”

However, specification manager of Toto Floyd Case pointed to the challenge of creating an experience in a small bathroom space, as he commented: “The challenge the designer has it to make a certain number of units in a box and the challenge is how do you allocate the space?

“Fundamentally bathrooms are getting smaller and the requirement for the best use of that space has increased.”

Rob Steul agreed and said, as a hotel operator, his company was looking at integrating bathroom and bedroom design.

He exclaimed as spaces get smaller: “You cannot really have a separate bedroom, a separate dressing area and a separate bathroom. We are trying to find ways of utilising and cross-utilising the spaces.”

Speaking about the design of The Londoner Hotel, set to open in Leicester Square in 2020, Steul said the company has  sub-divided the allocated room space, so the bathroom will be the entry to the bedroom.

He explained the design concept came from the site, which created long rooms “and one of the ways we made it work was having the bathroom as one of the sequence of spaces.”

However, Steul added: “The idea that you have a whole bunch of square footage behind a shut door that you use for five minutes here, five minutes there and half an hour in the morning, I think those days are over for hotels but also for residential.”