trends
What we want from a bathroom is changing – the interior designers leading the ablution revolution talk us through three major trends. Are you ready for what they have to recommend?
The social bathroom
Projects across the globe are reserving space beside bathtubs for armchairs and more, as our once most-private rooms become increasingly sociable. A trailblazer of this trend is Angus Buchanan, the creative director of Studio Buchanan, who included a library in his children’s bathroom. ‘It’s where the family gathers at the end of the day, and on Friday evenings we have a ritual of drinks and snacks whilst the kids are in the bath – we even play music,’ he tells us. It’s not just the younger members of the family who are being treated to this forward-thinking trend, either; Buchanan’s main bathroom feels like a drawing room, with the tub centre-stage. ‘Making your bathroom a sanctuary where you can amplify the bathing experience with books and lounging is valuable as we all look for an escape from the stresses of daily life,’ he adds.
‘I’ve always approached bathrooms as another functioning living space,’ agrees London-based architect Louis Hagen Hall, whose recent Balcorne Street project features a bathroom with a bespoke, built-in seating area. ‘Bathrooms need to be enjoyable spaces to spend time in,’ he explains. Few, however, will take things as far as Holloway Li designer Alex Holloway, who moved his tub into the living room during lockdown when he found ‘having long baths was something to do’. Yes, the tight proportions of his London apartment’s bathroom only allowed space for a shower, but the designer believes that changing sensibilities are prompting a larger shift towards more liberal attitudes to bathing. ‘Generation Rent is used to sharing space and is less prudish,’ he says.
So, how do you style a bathroom to take it beyond its primary function and make it feel more like an extension of your living space? Buchanan advocates wooden floors, armchairs and sofas, curtains and rugs. ‘Clearly practicality needs to be considered too,’ he concedes, ‘but that’s a challenge we love as designers – finding that balance between beauty, comfort and functionality.’
