The Toilet Design Consideration Which Can “Soil” Your Experience. Do You Know What This Is?

Where is the most private space in the house? Yes! The toilet. The place where you do one of your most intimate “businesses”.

And you have your fancy ideas when it comes to its design. The nice hotel toilet design, the huge toilet which your good friend has that you can imagine yourself even sleeping inside, the bathtub where you can enjoy your champagne and bubble bath… mmm…

This is what you have in mind when you are designing (Source: pixabay.com)

In your mind, you are probably thinking about something like this….

To your horror, it is actually closer to this!!!

Okay, fine. I am exaggerating.

But toilet design is in fact one of the most challenging components during the design and planning stage, especially in countries like Singapore where you don’t have the luxury of a big toilet.

Fret not. We are here to help you to explore how you can maximise the use of your limited private space. =)

OPTIMISE YOUR BATHROOM LAYOUT

In a typical bathroom, there are 3 areas you would have to considered: the sink, the toilet bowl and the shower area.

Ideally, you would want each area to have a minimum width of 800 mm.

Why 800 mm? According to a study done by National University of Singapore, the average shoulder width of Singaporean males and females are 450 mm and 400 mm respectively.

An area with a 800 mm width would provide a comfortable space for you to ‘maneuver’ in there.

SEPARATING WET AND DRY

This is arguably the most important design consideration. Can you imagine how yucky it would be if the floor is always wet every time you step into the toilet (Of course not forgetting the safety factor)?

So, where do we draw the wet-dry line?

The rule of thumb is to separate the hand washing area as the dry zone, and combine the shower and toilet area into the wet zone. And we want the dry zone to be nearer to the door.

Minimising moisture exposure. Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t like a hot and steamy bath? What comes with the steamy bath is the steam which tend to travel around. Firstly, having a dry zone will reduce the moisture from making the items you have on your sink cabinet being too wet. Secondly, this dry zone acts as a buffer area between your rooms and the wet zone. This will reduce the amount of moisture from reaching your rooms.

THIS IS JUST THE START…

If you have made it this far, congrats! You are on your way to your ideal bathroom!

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the design considerations.

There are other important areas such as:

Lighting Plan. Where do we place the lights and what kind of lights should we use?

Water Drainage and Sewerage. Understanding the existing drainage and sewerage plans allows you to know whether you can shift the position of the toilet bowl and/or the shower area.

Cabinetry In The Bathroom. A bathroom without storage will be a big headache, isn’t it? Yet, cabinetry comes with the problem of having the timber exposed to moisture and water, which eventually ends up having them getting moldy. What can you do about it?

Waterproofing Planning. A sound waterproofing plan and execution is paramount! The last thing you want is to have a fabulous looking bathroom and having your neighbour knocking on your door, complaining about the water leaking through their roof. Then it’s time to say bye-bye to your beautiful bathroom!

And many more areas to lose your sleep over…

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