This collection of global bathrooms prove that an adventurous spirit and clever planning are the ingredients needed to elevate the bathing experience. Whether a site of ritual and soothing wind-down, or an amplified zone of sensory overload, one thing is for sure: it’s time to throw out the rulebook.
This feature originally appeared in est magazine issue #58, ‘Creative Minds at Home’.
Villa Junot by Claves
Paris, France
Intricately detailed and grand in scale, the original mosaics in the bathroom have been restored, with Claves introducing recessive elements such as travertine basins to allow the tiling to read as the hero. Axor tapware, Illus mirrors, and Humanhome pendants act as jewellery within the space, while a Broste Copenhagen vase and Ferm Living stool provide additional decoration. Photography by Alice Mesguich
The powder room in this Milan Apartment is the living embodiment of being inside a disco ball. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi
Milan Apartment by Thomas Zangaro
Milan, Italy
The bathroom in Thomas Zangaro’s Milan apartment is a showstopping incarnation of a disco ball. This kaleidoscopic space transforms the everyday into spectacle. Inspired by the clients’ love for 1960s and ’70s disco culture, Zangaro sought to create a “non-bathroom” that could merge into the living area like an installation. The entire space is clad in a hand-cut mirrored mosaic, turning light and reflection into the room’s main character. “The mirrored mosaic tells the story best—it embodies the spirit of a disco ball while dissolving the boundaries of the room,” Zangaro explains.
A single stainless steel floor slab enhances the reflective quality underfoot, complemented by iconic Rapsel fixtures designed by Andrée Putman. Artwork also adds a playfully seductive quality—a Polaroid by Nobuyoshi Araki, and a steel panel by Angelo Brescianini just outside, reinforcing the dialogue between intimacy and raw materiality. A glittering installation and veritable showpiece—this space proves bathrooms should be a celebrated stage for design.
Jacaranda House by Richards Stanisich
Gadigal Country / Sydney, Australia
Bathed in a green glow, the main en suite at Jacaranda House transforms a subterranean corner into a garden retreat. Tucked beneath the house and behind the main bedroom, a glass partition with a green pane draws in light and the jacaranda outside, casting a soft wash of colour through the space. “The clients can lie back in the bathtub and see the trees outside,” Kirsten Stanisich explains, reinforcing the home’s connection to its leafy site.
Balancing function with ritual, the en suite is designed as a place to ground and calm. A granite benchtop with subtle grains and Carrara floor tiles brings lightness to the underground setting, while a marble splashback carries a delicate flourish—an abstracted motif drawn from the Federation-era detailing of the original house. Dark blue-grey veneer joinery, echoing the home’s external cladding, adds depth and communicates a subtle Japanese aesthetic.
Inserted behind the main bedroom, glass-panelled doors with lower green panes filter into the space, casting a glow. Details such as double bullnose and matching grey-green joinery create a cohesive look throughout. Photography by Felix Forest
Set up on a platform, the large bathtub is shrouded in natural stone. As a counterpoint to the matt finishes and warm minimalist aesthetic, the tapware is highly polished, adding a touch of glamour. Photography by Clément Gérard
Foch by Atelier MKD
Paris, France
“The main en suite is the showpiece of the apartment. It became the inspiration for the entire project,” states interior designer Marika Dru on the approach to this home. Anchored by a “majestic” bathtub and tall, narrow, arched doors, the space conjures the romanticism of historic bathing salons.
Throughout the entire apartment, curves are embraced as a way to soften and welcome, with Roman plaster sweeping across walls and feathering out the line up to the ceiling. The same technique extends into the bathroom, providing a waterproof surface that reflects light in a distinctive manner. Paired with understated stones in muted tones, the palette preserves a calming atmosphere. Details are tailored, from the rounded walls to the arched cornices—the eyes never rest on rigid lines. This fluid, enveloping detailing sets the framework for the apartment’s refined, cocoon-like interiors.
Monot by Uchronia
Paris, France
In Uchronia’s Paris apartment, the bathroom becomes an audacious fusion of theatrical colour, sculptural form and antique charm. Wrapped entirely in a brilliant, saturated green, the walls, arches and ceiling are designed for “total immersion through an enveloping colour,” Uchronia founder Julien Sebban says. Alpi Green marble sweeps across the custom basin and mosaic floor in undulating wave patterns, amplifying a sense of movement and fluidity.
The mood is playful yet precise: a lion’s foot bathtub converses with antique Louis XV pieces, notably François Linke’s secretary desk and chest of drawers, while 1960s-inspired wave motifs ripple throughout. The designers admit the greatest challenge lay in balancing such a vibrant palette with period pieces, which is solved by the chromatic consistency that “highlights the marble and antique furniture rather than overwhelming them.” It’s a kaleidoscopic space that oxymoronically captures ‘refined eccentricity’.
A high-gloss green drenches the walls, setting a vibrant backdrop for the furniture and finishes, including a Peanut mirror by Univers Uchronia, a 17th-century Flemish tapestry on the wall, a custom marble vanity in Verde Alpi by Uchronia, faucets by THG and a bathtub by Drummonds. Photography by Salva Lopez
Inserting a sense of privacy, the main en suite is tucked within a patchwork of glass and Artedomus Azul Boquira quartzite, allowing light in, while still inciting intimacy. Astra Walker tapware features above the Artedomus Arrabescato Vagli custom vanity, and a vintage Tall Primitive side table from Galerie Half sits by the entrance, next to the BAINA ROMAN Organic cotton towel in Tabac + Noir. Photography by Anson Smart
Terrace by Flack Studio
Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Bunurong Country / Melbourne, Australia
A ‘room within a room’, the main en suite at Flack Studio’s Terrace shifts its focus from hidden utility to central character. Enclosed by a hand painted red steel partition inset with a patchwork of textured glass, the bathroom is both intimate and transparent, filtering light while maintaining privacy. The steel frame is fabricated to mimic the walnut and leather bedhead, tying the en suite back to the primary bedroom with deliberate repetition.
Inside, Azul Boquira quartzite stone wraps the floor and partitioned panels in painterly striations, grounding the palette with an organic tactility. “The glass-enclosed bathroom within the bedroom showcases the project’s inventive planning,” David Flack notes, reframing privacy through material play. Cocooning in its ambience, this space balances contemporaneity with function.
Gable House by Studio Doherty
Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Bunurong Country / Melbourne, Australia
A curved mosaic wall beckons from an opening in the main bedroom, where pixelated tiles shift in tone as the eye draws deeper into the space. According to Mardi Doherty, director at Studio Doherty, this design flourish “is the clearest expression of the project. It grew out of a practical need but became the sculptural anchor of the space that is always visible from the main bedroom.”
Doherty confirms that achieving the subtle colour transition on the immersive surface was one of the most challenging. But the final impact is well worth the effort as it perfectly captures the client’s desire to feel like he was at the bottom of a pool while showering.
To complement the aquatic theme is a red-flecked mosaic floor, and a free-standing vanity forged from thick, slab- like chunks of Calcite stone, its dreamy, cloud-patterned design tempering the intensity of the primary colours.
A free-standing vanity adds another sculptural dimension to the space, while the Calcite stone with its sea foam, cloud-like plumes softens the palette. Unusual forms play out elsewhere in the space, including the threshold into the shower room. Photography by Sean Fennessy
The main bathroom is accessed through a series of arched thresholds, where the black and white tiling brings a hypnotic touch. Geometries are played against one another, circular motifs, archways and gridded lines repeat throughout. Fixtures by Devon&Devon bring a touch of Art Deco, accompanied by a salvaged vintage light fitting. Photography by Thomas De Bruyne
Bonheiden by Contekst
Bonheiden, Belgium
The geometries of Sol LeWitt are the jumping off point for this monochromatic bathroom by Contekst. An exercise in rhythm and symmetry, black-and-white Moroccan zellige tiles march in line across every surface—from walls to bath and shower. The hypnotically striped grid recasts what is typically just a functional space into a living artwork. Pushing the idea of craft to its limits, each tile has been mitre-cut to add a dimensional quality across the rippling surface.
Archways and doors are coated with high-gloss black, reflecting light and depth throughout. The fixtures, especially the pedestal basins, add to the Art Deco aesthetic. Both orderly and exuberant, this bathroom presents a case for art- led design.
