Patrick Kidd - May 01 2021
LUXURY LAVATORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
The bathroom, the oft-forgotten space in one’s humble, or-not-so humble abode where you always leave feeling better than you did before you entered. Whether it’s a warm shower the morning after the night before, prepping yourself for a days-work or experimenting with a new Tom-Selleck-from-Miami-Vice moustachioed look that gets shot down by your significant other – none of these moments would be possible without it. In my honest opinion, it’s one of the only private places in a home where you can truly take a moment for yourself, so is somewhat of a haven to me. Small caveat, I have two little kids who are grappling with the concept of privacy, so my so-called haven is being challenged at the moment, but I hold out in hope that in the near future I won’t be interrupted during my more vulnerable moments.That said and given what I do, I’m sure it won’t come to you as a surprise that the bathroom is my favourite room in the house. I regularly find myself going down bathroom Pinterest holes as they serve as design inspiration for our future products and I liken it to what Fiorano is to Ferrari – a test track. The bathroom is where we begin and finish the development of our product range, both from a packaging design and a performance perspective, hence my love for them and why I thought I’d share a few of my favourite bathrooms (term used loosely, as you’ll soon discover), as well as some specific features that I think are rad and a few stories that weirdly relate to bathrooms.
Sauna R by Matteo Foresti. Värmdö
municipality, Stockholm.
I was drawn in by the bathroom and smacked over the head by the landscape and architecture of the entire dwelling, which is by a long stretch, the coolest fucking sauna I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen a few in my time! This one time in band camp, I mean a sauna in Chicago, I met arguably the best neurosurgeon in the world who turned out to be instrumental in the formulation of our skincare products and one of our lead investors, so I feel like I know enough to be able to comment. My dream is to have a house in a similar style to this, nestled in against a hill with epic ocean views, rugged terrain and if it came with this bathroom, I wouldn’t change a thing! A monochromatic scheme is always a winner for me, as are large tiles – slabs of polished Negresco Quartzite to be exact – and clever use of lighting. Being brutally honesty, I’d be hard pressed to find a better place to shoot product than this shower space, with natural light beaming down from the skylight, and the fixings in matte black are giving me all sorts of G63 vibes too, my personal favourite.
Collywood House by Olson Kundig.
Los Angeles, California.
Los Angeles is my favourite city in the world, controversial I know, but there’s something about Sunset Boulevard, the rock n roll vibe of Hollywood, the debaucherous afterparties and the light – that weird orange pollution glow that seems to make everything feel very LA, you know what I mean right? Cue Collywood House, perched at the top of the Hollywood Hills that was purpose built to hold 2 people as comfortably as 250 (that was one part of a two-point design brief), perfect for an after party if you didn’t make the list at Club James, part of the Sheats–Goldstein Residence. If you know, you know.When it comes to the bathroom, of which the fittings could be considered low-key with a combination of whites, woodgrain and brushed silver fixings, there’s one feature that couldn’t be further from that – the view. Punctuated with a giant glass window that climbs 11 feet and stretches the entire length of the space, capturing the Griffith Observatory to the left and the Getty to the right, it’s the perfect spot to ‘expose yourself to L.A…’, in the words of its’ owner, Kipp Nelson. I’m not sure if those using the bathroom at an afterparty would be too keen on that kind of exposure, however the view would make it worth the risk.
Villa E by Studio Ko. Marrakech, Morocco
There’s something about lying on the floor in the shower, a move generally reserved for despair after an evening of engaging in nocturnal atrocities, that really makes you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom. We don’t recommend it. However, we do recommend finding a shower with a seat for the-morning-after-the-night-before, much like this beautiful shower by Studio Ko, who you may know as the famous design duo behind the Musée de Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, and personal friends of the aforementioned design legend.And while there’s a lot more to this bathroom than simply the seat that sits perfectly under the rain shower head (another must for anyone re-designing their bathroom), it’s this simple addition that can level up the bathroom from good, to fucking great. There are few feelings that compare with sitting down in a shower, specifically on a seat, and it’s funny how a small addition can elevate an experience from down-and-out and WTF am I doing with my life, to day spa.
Kettner’s Townhouse by SOHO House
design team. Soho, London.
As someone who used to travel a lot and have spent more than my fair share of time in London, Kettner’s Townhouse in Soho is easily one of the homeliest places I stay, proving a fitting reprieve from the madness. I’m from the South Coast of NSW, so I consider myself somewhat of a country kid at heart and this place pulls on those fond memories, which is nice when you’re on week two of a trip away from your family.Soho House have a clever way of making you feel like you just got home even though you’re usually alone and on the other side of the world, that’s my take anyway. I’m sure their design team have worked on every detail to make this a reality, also it’s kind of rock n roll having bath in the lounge room and telling room service to leave the cheeseburger and booze on the bed.
Notable mentions
The Standard, Los Angeles – Shower Door
The bathrooms aren’t what I’d consider great and the hallways smell like cleaning products that FBI crime scene guys use at The Standard, but that’s not why you stay there right? That said, this little hole in the shower screen innovation almost makes up for what the bathroom lacks, the weird shit that was probably happening in the bed you’re snuggling into, keeping your sleeve dry every time you turn it on. Genius, or is it weird I turn the shower on with a shirt on?
Soho House, West Hollywood – Wallpaper by Jonathan Yeo
It’s rare when a wallpaper catches my eye and I’ll admit, it took a few double takes in the bathroom at Soho House West Hollywood to even realise what was going on. Jonathan Yeo, the mad man, has been making wallpaper which looks like a classic pattern, however, utilises pornography for the patterned detail. Legendary. Fun fact, a slight variation (the background colour) features in the Soho House’s Dean Street Townhouse, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their first date. Nothing like high profile love blossoming in the presence of hardcore porno…
This article was written for The Journal.
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