apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't like mind the toliet facing the shower (that's how my current bathroom is anyway)... but I don't like the idea of being able to get wet while using the restroom.

I second that. If someone has just taken a shower, I don't want my feet to get wet if I'm going to use the toilet just afterwards...

When I was staying in the Greek islands, I had a bathroom with no divider between the shower and the toilet. There was just a drain in the floor. It was absolutely fine.

I don't see how a traditional bathroom is more private. You still have a curtain or frosted glass between the shower and the other parts of it. This, looks good and appears to be functional.

It never ceases to amaze me how americans get so weirded-out by variations in bathroom configuration. I suppose the next question is: "can you shower with a bidet looking right at ya?" !!!

Overall, I think this looks like a wonderfully practical layout -- all the areas of the bathroom that need the most frequent scrubbing (ie shower walls/floor and floor around the john) compactly located for easier cleaning. I like it.

this is similar to an idea i have for my space, and i love it!

I like the idea of being able to hose down the toilet area. I don't use the bathroom when someone else is showering either, so that doesn't concern me either. I don't like the idea that the floor might be wet when you go to the bathroom, but if designed right that problem could be eliminated.

I guess the main reason that I like this so much is that it is a different perspective on an everyday activity.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the configuration, but the computer rendering with the curved walls and the redlined divider looks better than the actual room.

That anyone could overlook the simplicity, practicality and space-efficiency of a design like this weirds me out.

I don't know why all bathrooms and kitchens in the US don't have simple drains in the floor? How can anyone live in a place that doesn't allow you to hose any dust, dirt and little hairs off the floor and down the drain but makes you pick it up with nasty and unsanitary mops and sponges?

Don't even get me started on those nasty vinyl shower curtains that are repositories for mold and mildew as well as sources of toxic outgassing - or cellulose sponges that people use and reuse to "clean" their bathrooms and kitchens...

I lived in a 300 sq ft apartment (2 floors, 150 sq ft each). I called the bottom floor my "bitchen" (combination bathroom kitchen). When you walked in the door, the stove and refridgerator were on your right, the shower stall was on the left. The toilet was in the shower stall. At least with the configuration, your toilet isn't *in* your shower....

Where is the drain? The water on the floor would bother me if I had come in after my husband's shower and ended up with wet shoes/socks/feet, plus the problem of tracking it back through the bathroom.

I do like the idea of being able to shower clean the toilet area, but the divider's bottom open space is small, plus the 2 doors make it look impossible to get the hand shower over to the other side. Unless the glass is hinged? Interesting idea, but seems to create more problems than solutions.

That's the way most bathroom's were in most of the hotels I stayed in while traveling in India.... only without the frosted glass divider. Takes some getting used to, but on the plus side, it makes you super efficient in the shower so you won't make so much of a mess!

Not fond of this idea. I also wouldn't want to have water running all over the bathroom floor. This is also not so practical in a climate where it's humid and rainy a lot of the time. The bathroom would always be damp.

I've also been to several hostels in Europe that had open showers and drains in the floor. The one thing I remember thinking at the time: COLD! It did not strike me as being very comfortable in poorly-insulated, drafty buildings.

"Where is the drain?"

On the shower-side of the partition - which is clearly over a foot off the floor.
And the hand-held shower does appear to be sufficiently long to reach around the partition to hose down the other side if necessary - if not, longer hoses are available.

Unless one person is using the toilette while another person is in the shower.... I don't see where it would matter.

My toilet and shower are separated by shower curtain. I don't see what the problem is.

all I can think is toilet overflows--> toilet contents all over shower floor- however my roommate uses a wheelchair, and I've often thought that it would make a lot more sense in general if we just put a drain in the floor, and didn't worry about a bathtub.

This is way cleaner than most of the bathrooms I've had in years and years of rental apartments. I like it.

all I can think is toilet overflows--> toilet contents all over shower floor

Well, that's a heck of a lot better than toilet contents all over your BATHROOM floor. At least you could easily bleach and then hose the mess down the drain with this design. In a traditional bathroom you have to mop up crap when the toilet overflows.

I mean, ick!

This would be fine if the frosted glass reached the floor; why doesn't it?

I live in India and most bathrooms until recently ( and in my current home built in the early 90's) have some or the other variation of this. The drain in the floor is great! After a shower, one just uses a floor wipe ( we have ones with rubber bottom and long handle) to swish, swish, swish the water towards the drain. Turn on the exhaust fan and within minutes the floor is shining clean and dry. Definitely beats my mouldy shower curtain in San Francisco!
Also just as an FYI, floors with drains are built with an imperceptible slant towards the drain, so the water automatically flows towards it instantly.

It seems like all you would need was a slight ridge in between the shower and toilet area. Would keep all the water in the shower area. Then you can have a drain in both the shower and the toilet area for easy clean-up. That would pretty much make it function the same as all other bathrooms.

The shared shower / rest-of-bathroom floor is really common here in Europe. Oftentimes you don't even get a divider, so your shower is spraying all over the bathroom (not a fan of this!) However, if you have a divider, the drain-in-floor is nice -- no shower basin / tub to clean, and the look is cleaner too. Not weird at all in my opinion.

I like this, but to perfect it I would have the divider go all the way to the ground so that shower water does not seep into the loo area, and a separate drain in each half so that one could hose down the toilet efficiently without any germs getting in the shower foot space.

Remember back when bathrooms were carpeted?

Overall, I like the design of it, and don't see any issue with privacy in this. If two people are already comfortable enough to use a more traditional bathroom together (in which, as many have noted, there is little more privacy), then this layout shouldn't be a problem.

The one question I have is: why not extend the sheet of frosted glass all the way to the floor (if it isn't already), and eliminate (1) the "peeing in the shower" feel and (2) the need for a door to the toilet "stall"?

Honestly, the fact of having a toilet stall in a larger bathroom is the only thing that weirds me out.

the writer assumes two people will use the bathroom at the same time.

The layout is fine. I still don't think it is meant to be for spontaneous use by two people.

Hi,
I'm Nestor. The guy who designed this bathroom.
I've found this webpage as a casuality!

I've read almost all the comments, and I see that the major concern for most of you is getting the floor wet.

The glass divider reaches the floor. But this glass is divided in two sections; the top one is made of frosted glass, and the bottom one is made of transparent glass. The reason is to show the continuity of the floor between shower and restroom, but avoiding the water running out the shower cabin.

Anyway, if you have any other question, you can email me.

Best regards,
Nestor Espinosa