No fuss, no muss

A pared back design focusing on function results in a bathroom that lives up to the owner's goal of zero maintenance

view of this bathroom featuring subway tiles on architecture, bathroom, floor, flooring, house, interior design, room, tile, wall, gray, blue — view of this bathroom featuring subway tiles on the wall, polished concrete floors, custom soaking stainless bathtub a, stainless vanity, dual basins

view of this bathroom featuring subway tiles on floor, flooring, interior design, room, tile, gray

view of this bathroom featuring subway tiles on architecture, bathroom, ceiling, countertop, daylighting, floor, flooring, home, interior design, real estate, room, tile, wall, wood, gray

We all aspire to spending less time on mundane chores. Terms like low-maintenance, or better zero-maintenance speak of weekends spent with friends and family instead of scrubbing bathroom fittings and fixtures.

At Place Architects, principal Heather Johnston, pictured a home that was as maintenance-free as possible.

"The home needed to fulfill a number of requirements outside of purely being somewhere to live, in a way that is appealing without being fancy."

The solution was to draw inspiration from disparate sources and adapt those into the design scheme. Nowhere is that better realized than the home's bathrooms.

"If I had to describe the bathrooms, I'd say they were designed for function. They are a very clear expression of our primary goals for the house," says Johnston.

Johnston used a number of typically commercial applications wall-hung toilet, wall-mounted taps, subway tiles, polished concrete floors as a means of achieving her goal of limited upkeep.

"Everything was chosen as a simple way of doing something that's cool, with a minimum of fuss. The idea is to be able to make a mess without doing any lasting damage."

Everything in both bathrooms serves a clear purpose, there are no irrelevancies. That said, there is room for luxury as well. The contemporary twist on a Japanese soaking tub, and radiant underfloor heating used throughout the house, ensure that form does make an appearance amidst all that function.