8 New Zealand Bathrooms With a Kick-Ass View
The owners and architects behind these beautiful bathrooms have thrown caution – though not modesty, thankfully – to the wind
Simon Farrell-Green
21 May 2016
In a country with such a rumpled, folded landscape, it’s not very hard to snap up a view. New Zealand is a country of ridges and valleys and, quite often, our houses cling to slopes with views over mountains and sea. It’s the kind of country where views reveal themselves as you come around a corner, often by surprise – a big part of its natural beauty.
What’s less common – though no less impressive – is when bathrooms are afforded views as good as the rest of the house. And why not? Unlike the windowless box in the middle of the house, lit only by a skylight or the skinny little window above the shower, letting in light but keeping prying neighbours (understandably) out, these bathrooms have the ultimate luxury: a view.
What’s less common – though no less impressive – is when bathrooms are afforded views as good as the rest of the house. And why not? Unlike the windowless box in the middle of the house, lit only by a skylight or the skinny little window above the shower, letting in light but keeping prying neighbours (understandably) out, these bathrooms have the ultimate luxury: a view.
1. Wee bit special
Sometimes it seems like the best views in New Zealand are from Waiheke Island – and so are rather a lot of these bathrooms.
This bathroom was designed by Daniel Marshall for an elegant house on a beachfront site. The brief of the house was driven by the idea of a family encampment – and the idea carries through to the bathroom too, where floor-to-ceiling glass windows look out through the boughs of an established pohutukawa tree to a view of an idyllic little bay. Metal fins along the facade of the house offer a bit of privacy; kudos for the strategic view-enhancing toilet placement too.
Sometimes it seems like the best views in New Zealand are from Waiheke Island – and so are rather a lot of these bathrooms.
This bathroom was designed by Daniel Marshall for an elegant house on a beachfront site. The brief of the house was driven by the idea of a family encampment – and the idea carries through to the bathroom too, where floor-to-ceiling glass windows look out through the boughs of an established pohutukawa tree to a view of an idyllic little bay. Metal fins along the facade of the house offer a bit of privacy; kudos for the strategic view-enhancing toilet placement too.
2. Loo with a view
Meanwhile, in Wellington, Tse:Wallace Architects designed a gorgeous house neighbouring a conservation area of bush, built around sheltered courtyards against the hill that offer respite from Wellington’s notorious winds. It’s a dramatic spot with views in every direction. The bathroom isn’t huge, but it feels generous thanks to the large picture window looking up the gorge at native bush.
Meanwhile, in Wellington, Tse:Wallace Architects designed a gorgeous house neighbouring a conservation area of bush, built around sheltered courtyards against the hill that offer respite from Wellington’s notorious winds. It’s a dramatic spot with views in every direction. The bathroom isn’t huge, but it feels generous thanks to the large picture window looking up the gorge at native bush.
3. Front-row seat
This Tree House sits on a narrow piece of land on – again – Waiheke Island, and is inspired by a tramping (hiking) hut. It’s pared back and simple, with a gable roof and lots of timber, which gives the place an honest warmth. Nowhere is this more true than in the bathroom, where the sink is a hollowed-out stone and the view stretches over the Hauraki Gulf to the horizon.
This Tree House sits on a narrow piece of land on – again – Waiheke Island, and is inspired by a tramping (hiking) hut. It’s pared back and simple, with a gable roof and lots of timber, which gives the place an honest warmth. Nowhere is this more true than in the bathroom, where the sink is a hollowed-out stone and the view stretches over the Hauraki Gulf to the horizon.
And, in a beautiful touch, a slatted timber screen sits underneath the bathroom’s glass roof – standing in the shower, you feel like you’re truly standing in the landscape, view on one side, sky above you.
4. Bog standard
The regenerating rainforest at Karekare beach – about 45 minutes from Auckland – flows up a steep ridge and around this house, designed for a builder by Dorrington Atcheson Architects. With not a neighbour in sight, bathers can contentedly sit and look at the view without fear of being looked in upon. In keeping with the rest of the house, materials in the bathroom are hard-wearing, honest and simple, but beautifully executed.
The regenerating rainforest at Karekare beach – about 45 minutes from Auckland – flows up a steep ridge and around this house, designed for a builder by Dorrington Atcheson Architects. With not a neighbour in sight, bathers can contentedly sit and look at the view without fear of being looked in upon. In keeping with the rest of the house, materials in the bathroom are hard-wearing, honest and simple, but beautifully executed.
5. Let it lav
Strachan Group Architects designed a lovely house at Owhanake Bay – again, on Waiheke Island. Long and narrow, it plays with the idea of a verandah: three pavilions carefully follow the line of a ridge. Most rooms look down on a beautiful little bay: doors and windows open up completely in the manner of a screened porch.
The bathrooms are key to the design. Placed in the ‘linkages’ between the pavilions, they are more like bath houses. Here, a shower and a bath sit in front of a wall of glass louvres that bring in both fresh air and the view.
Strachan Group Architects designed a lovely house at Owhanake Bay – again, on Waiheke Island. Long and narrow, it plays with the idea of a verandah: three pavilions carefully follow the line of a ridge. Most rooms look down on a beautiful little bay: doors and windows open up completely in the manner of a screened porch.
The bathrooms are key to the design. Placed in the ‘linkages’ between the pavilions, they are more like bath houses. Here, a shower and a bath sit in front of a wall of glass louvres that bring in both fresh air and the view.
6. Wash up
As with the rest of the Te Whau house, Sills van Bohemen has designed a bathroom with carefully modulated views and volumes. Here, the window above the path frames the beautiful old pohutukawa tree perfectly, while the two-tone green tiles somehow capture the green of the canopy. I particularly like how the tree appears to carry on around the corner in the mirrored cabinet above the sink. Just lovely.
As with the rest of the Te Whau house, Sills van Bohemen has designed a bathroom with carefully modulated views and volumes. Here, the window above the path frames the beautiful old pohutukawa tree perfectly, while the two-tone green tiles somehow capture the green of the canopy. I particularly like how the tree appears to carry on around the corner in the mirrored cabinet above the sink. Just lovely.
7. Shock to the cistern
Bravo! This bathroom – like the rest of this Fearon Hay masterpiece on a cliff on Auckland’s North Shore – is an exercise in elegant restraint, all glass and steel and concrete and unimpeded view. Fearon Hay placed the bathroom on a corner: full-length stacking doors slide back completely, opening the house into the view over the Hauraki Gulf and transforming the bathroom into an open-air spa. That water, those trees. That bath.
Bravo! This bathroom – like the rest of this Fearon Hay masterpiece on a cliff on Auckland’s North Shore – is an exercise in elegant restraint, all glass and steel and concrete and unimpeded view. Fearon Hay placed the bathroom on a corner: full-length stacking doors slide back completely, opening the house into the view over the Hauraki Gulf and transforming the bathroom into an open-air spa. That water, those trees. That bath.
8. Long drop
On a clifftop site north of Auckland sits a particularly beautiful pavilion: a simple gable form shelters a living room and bedroom, with a covered deck in between. In one of the more inspired moves, the bathroom is a short walk down a stone path from the house in its own little copper-clad building, right on the edge of the cliff. From here, quite obviously, the view is epic.
On a clifftop site north of Auckland sits a particularly beautiful pavilion: a simple gable form shelters a living room and bedroom, with a covered deck in between. In one of the more inspired moves, the bathroom is a short walk down a stone path from the house in its own little copper-clad building, right on the edge of the cliff. From here, quite obviously, the view is epic.
Inside, it’s beautifully lined with shiplap cedar panelling. The shower sits right next to the window and the view out through ancient trees to the Pacific Ocean. The addition of a pair of binoculars beside the toilet is an inspired move.
TELL US
Have these projects inspired you? Would you feel comfortable with a bathroom open to the view? Let us know in the Comments.
MORE
Room With a View: Jaw-Dropping Bathscapes Across the Globe
Windows of Wonder That Make the Most of the View
Picture Perfect: 28 Kitchens With Breathtaking Views
TELL US
Have these projects inspired you? Would you feel comfortable with a bathroom open to the view? Let us know in the Comments.
MORE
Room With a View: Jaw-Dropping Bathscapes Across the Globe
Windows of Wonder That Make the Most of the View
Picture Perfect: 28 Kitchens With Breathtaking Views
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OMG! Oh heart be still! Such divine wonderments of vista! I could go to the loo, or bathe and never remember how long I have been there with views like those shown. Mind you, at night I might have a wee small issue with people mayhap seeing me in my altogether.
Loved this feature. Architecture showing its stripes in NZ. Well done all.
Wow wow wow wow and wow. (x 2)