As the bidet attachment continues to grip US homes, bathrooms have flushed with another new trend: the water closet. Call it an enclosed toilet, a toilet den, or a private sink—this purpose-built space is a separate space within the bathroom itself, dedicated solely to time spent on the porcelain throne.
While a powder room is all well and good, designers say an increasing number of customers across the US are now demanding isolated lavatory spaces in their primary and sometimes secondary bathrooms. Celebrities like David Harbor and Lily Allen, whose Brooklyn townhouse has such separate rooms for plumbing fixtures, seem to agree. So are luxury developers and their architects: restrooms are standard in the apartment interiors of new residential buildings such as 111 West 57th Street by SHoP Architects and Studio Sofield and Central Park Tower by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gil Architecture, both in New York. “Currently, we don’t have a single residential project in development that doesn’t have a toilet in at least the master bathroom,” says designer Rafael Kalichstein of Los Angeles-based studio Citizen Artist, adding that some couples prefer each to have their own enclosed dresser . “We’re also programming separate toilet rooms for some guest suites,” says Joshua Rose, co-founder of Citizen Artist.
The reasons are inherently personal – and the goal is to keep it that way. To state the obvious, a restroom contains the sights, sounds, and smells of restroom activity in a given space and helps maintain a spa-like feel elsewhere. For those who don’t even want to see the utilitarian toilet, a walled room allows for a door to be literally shut in your face. “Toilet design hasn’t changed much in almost 250 years, so we’re not that impressed with the innovation,” says Rose. “To most of our eyes, it’s ‘just’ a toilet.”
However, when it isn’t, it’s actually an important part of the overall bathroom design. At this year’s KBIS, Kohler reintroduced two traditional colors from his archives, Spring Green (1927) and Peachblow (1934), which will be available for several toilet, bathtub and sink models this coming summer. Recently completed private homes by AD100 designers like Billy Cotton, Oliver M. Furth, and Virginia Tupker all have plumbing fixtures in bold hues that made a splash in the bathroom — separate or not. San Francisco-based designer Jessica Jubelirer says customer requests for old-school styling in washrooms are also increasing.
“Bold vintage lights certainly have a moment when paired with bold colors and patterns,” explains Jubelirer. “Bespoke and understated designs are always a classic.” Kalichstein and Rose also have a “shift away from the unassuming, contemporary shapes that have dominated the market for decades, towards finely crafted contemporary plumbing fixtures from Italy or Germany, or more traditional faucets that we historically from England, France or… Belgium.” Built-in toilet seat bidets are still making a name for themselves for their hygienic and environmentally conscious appeal, although color matching is a little further behind, with most only being offered in standard white, off-white and occasionally black But for designers, this openness to the interplay of old and new offers an even greater opportunity to create custom spaces that focus on well-being – an increasing priority in home design in the post-COVID era at large specific position in their plumbing fixtures n,” says Kalichstein.
In general, designing or renovating for a toilet room has its own set of technical complications. For example, international building codes require a water closet to measure at least 30 inches by 60 inches; In a smaller apartment or house, it may not be possible to allocate such floor space for a luxurious bathroom. For many homeowners, however, it’s worth every square foot.
Since the pandemic began, “customers have been looking for bathrooms that improve their lives,” says Jubelirer. And if you have to go, a little comfort goes a long way.
