I personally would not feel exposed but I just watched a house hunting show with a similar situation where the master bathroom was at the top of a 2-story family room (which I imagine may have originally been a "bonus room") and there was a wall of drywall up a few feet topped with a few feet of glass block and then followed by a few feet of vertical open space between the glass block and the ceiling. The buyers were an active family and were hesitant about the lack of privacy so they brainstormed they would add more glass block to the ceiling to close the gap if they decided to buy the house. For a family that has people over on a regular basis, it may feel a little strange to not be fully enclosed in a bathroom with people nearby. For just a couple, it may work more easily. It's really a personal preference.

Sorry, even if I lived there, I would not want a bathroom open to the rest of the house. I wouldn't mind using it if I lived alone, but I wouldn't want to be next to the wall listening to someone do their business and flush the toilet. I imagine a scene out of "All in the Family".

I don't know that I'd feel exposed, but I don't think I'd enjoy the humidity leaking out into the house when someone else was taking a shower.

ok, there are so many variables involved. Parents with children if you really learn and teach them to respect privacy no matter what you may hear and never attempt to see anything. friends, strangers, and more distant relative are never going to feel comfortable. And just how much do you wish to hear? Maybe the best way is to make frosted glass transoms that can easily opened and closed. Just close them before company comes.

And whenever you are making these decisions, think of your mom on the other side of that wall, while your significant other is commenting on how she is a pain or you are whispering sweet nothings and then you hear this grunt and smell, well you know, and realize that all this is being heard by her too. That should allow you to make the proper decisions. tehehe

I think part of it also depends on how many other bathrooms you have and how much you're home. I only use my master bath early in the morning to get ready for work and late at night before bed.

This is in a building where we will be having dog training classes and occasional visitors (to see puppies). Other than that, no one "living" there.

yeah, so noone is going to want to hear, or be heard.

If it were open, I would feel exposed. I simply would refuse to use the restroom at your house. If you are OK losing the cross ventilation (which cross ventilation with a bathroom is just an unfortunate thought), glass all around the top could be ok (kind of like a weirdly large transom window effect. It is closed up, so this limits escaping sights and sounds, but allows light to pass through.

I'd feel exposed and wouldn't use it unless I was the only one in the home.

Surely you can find an architect who can design the bathroom with the upper windows like the rest of the house so you can have your ventilation and the person using the bathroom can have their privacy.

Kind of funny really how many people would feel exposed and would not want to use the bathroom. The more I think about it, it's a bit like a public restroom with stalls (as stall walls rarely go to the ceiling or floor and have the added issues of gaps between the wall panels and doors -- which thankfully we won't have!). Regarding the humidity control issue, I should have clarified this is only for a toilet and small hand basin (not a full bathroom with shower). The main room on the other side of the proposed toilet is our dog whelping room where we will have young litters of puppies (when we have them). Further down the hall, removed from this room, is our training room where there are likely to be other visitors but the proposed bathroom would be quite removed from that area. It would be wonderful to find more windows like the ones that are up near the ceiling! That would certainly solve the issue. I'll have to scour the demolition/restoration places.

well, but its not quite like a restroom, as everyone in the restroom is in the restroom. its not open to the corridor or the restaurant or the rest of the department store.

so with this new knowledge, perhaps it will work. won't know til you do it.