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An Illuminating Talk with Architect Colin Seah and Tatler Homes on the Evolution of the Bathroom Experience
“Bathroom is a space that, when designed right, makes you want to linger, but done wrong, you would just want to spend as little time as possible there,” said award-winning architect Colin Seah at The Evolution of the Bathroom Experience. Attended by 50 industry family and friends at Cosentino City Singapore last Tuesday, the talk event celebrated Seah’s visions for C·Bath’s Bathelier collection moderated by Hong Xinying, Regional Managing Editor of the Tatler Homes magazine.
“So, what is your personal definition of a beautiful bathroom?” asked Hong. There has been a glamourisation of the kitchen and bathroom spaces, observed Seah. But at the core of it, these spaces are functional. “It’s a combination of extreme functions that needs precision down to the millimetres of it. So for me, a beautiful bathroom is so well-designed that you don’t notice the function,” he elaborated.
“And what makes a great bathroom experience?” Hong followed up. There is a whole spectrum of that, Seah said, explaining that it depends on the context. “Like in hotels and resorts, during the holiday, we spend triple the amount of time in the bathroom than at home. Bathroom moments during holidays are sensuous, elevated experience, and free from certain concerns that bathroom spaces in domestic settings must address, like room for dirty laundry and so on,” Seah said.
“For me, a great home bathroom experience is one that engages with the whole journey in a linear procession without having to double back – there’s space to hang your towels and dry yourself. Everything is catered for. It is tailored to your needs; you don’t need to jerry-rig anything because everything functions seamlessly,” he adds.
The conversation moved to Seah’s visions for the Bathelier, titled The Cave and The Collage. “At the start of it, we were thinking – do we do something universally liked, or do we design something more provocative?” he asked his team at his firm, Ministry of Design. They went with the provocative design for The Cave and a universally liked – with a twist – with The Collage.
“The cave addresses the archetypal bathroom – some enclosure away from prying eyes with natural light source looking out to the wild, untouched view. Then we translated that to something contemporary with materials and textures, creating this prismatic wall with colours that gradually get lighter towards the opening to ease the outdoor glare,” he told the audience.
The Collage’s concept originated from a common homeowner’s modus operandi. “You pick a colour you like, wrap it everywhere, and add something contrasting – we called it the f word – the feature wall. This is easier to implement, and it minimises wastage. But what if we sold the sheets or slab as collage? We use four or five sheets of both materials and minimise wastage by cutting them creatively. So the materials are not hierarchical. It is also subverting the usual logic with five sheets and 1 accent sheet,” explains Seah.
Seah’s takeaway from the Bathelier design exercise he found enjoyable was recalling the enjoyable bathroom experience, not only as a designer or an adult, but from a younger age, and reimagining materials for a more proactive application.
Digital layering in the bathroom space, Seah said, is the next innovation he is excited about to be applied in bathroom spaces. Hong closed the talk with one last question: “What do you think the future bathroom will look like?” Seah threw that to the audience, who responded with a range of wishes and ideas, which Seah engaged with his own, including perhaps a collapsible bathtub since the fixture takes up a lot of real estate in the bathroom space.
The event concluded with the guests mingling and networking over wine, cheese and artisanal tarts. Browse more innovative visions of the future bathroom from some of the world’s most exciting creatives here! And stay tuned for more exciting events at Cosentino!
