A Clear Bathroom

This is a bathroom at the Fairmont Hotel in Singapore. I thought it was an ingenious way to treat a small bathroom--everything was glass, even the counter top.  It probably isn't practical for a home bathroom because not only would the glass counter be hard to maintain, the design only works if you can keep it as sparse and neat as a hotel bathroom--meaning no toiletries on the counter, or any other clutter that comes with regular life. 

But it works for a hotel where you'd probably spend only a few days, and keeping it neat and clean isn't really your problem.

 

I like the idea of the shower being partitioned off together with the bathtub. It's a space saver that also allows more elbow room while showering. Notice too that the shower controls are on the wall nearest the stall opening--you can turn on the water before even getting under the shower.

The glass partition of the toilet doesn't serve any purpose except to terminate the glass counter which would otherwise be floating, exposing an unsafe sharp corner.

The all-glass strategy makes this bathroom feel spacious. What I also found very interesting were the vanity lights. The whole mirror protruded about 5 inches from the wall, creating a space to embed a fluorescent tube on each side. A narrow frosted glass panel is hinged from the inside and opens up like a cabinet door for easy access to the bulb. Flat chrome strips form a border on it tying it into the main mirror.  I thought the application was pretty clever specially since it's hard to source sleek vanity fixtures.

I kept telling myself I needed to photograph the details but kept putting it off. Now I don't have those pictures.

Before coming to the Fairmont, we were at the Marina Bay Sands, which I admit is very impressive, but is also circus-like with so many people walking through the lobby. Since the place is massive, the elevators can be a trek away depending on which tower your room is located.

In comparison, the Fairmont is compact so more design tricks are needed to create a feeling of spaciousness, like this "clear" bathroom. After being in the middle of all the activity at the busy Marina Bay Sands, I appreciated the intimate feel of the smaller and quieter Fairmont.