We’re seeing more and more stunning bathroom designs in New Zealand houses. Try architect Paul Clarke’s translucent glass shower box that’s protected from public view only by the neighbour’s hedge. Or what about architect Malcolm Taylor’s design for one house on the Hauraki Plains that features a bathtub you can sit in while shooting ducks for your supper through the window?

While fun and unique, these designs may not be everyone’s cup of tea but there are still some simple treasures to be found in creating a bathroom with an outlook into a private garden or courtyard, or with a glazed roof light for staring through at the clouds and stars. And, luckily, in New Zealand, some homes enjoy really spectacular landscape views, also.

“We like to create a bathroom aspect to the site, the property and nature beyond,” explains Nicola Herbst from Herbst Architects. “In our Paihia House design, it was relatively straightforward as there isn’t a privacy issue – the house is on the edge of a cliff. Big sliders open out and there’s a deck in front of that so you can walk out while brushing your teeth and look at the view beyond. That’s what we’re trying to achieve if we can. We plan bathrooms on the edges of buildings so they can gain an outlook to the garden and the view.”

For good bathroom design, she also recommends large mirrors with good lighting – “for being able to see yourself with ease to do various tasks like make-up or shaving” – and a high-level cupboard faced with a mirror is a good solution to that.

“We had a request from a client who likes to read while she’s in the bath so we added a reading light,” says Herbst. “Night-lighting also lights the underbelly of the bath. We tend to go into the showroom and lie in the bath that we specify as sometimes baths can be beautiful but not practical or comfortable. Sometimes they’re too large or too sloped. If it’s comfortable generally, it will be good enough for reading.”

A well-designed bathroom should meet our basic needs, but it should also take us to a relaxing and nurturing place.

Reflective views – Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architects on the Bay of Islands House in Paihia

“This house in Paihia is situated on an elevated site down a long, inclined driveway and the house is strung along a big, terraced area. Every room has a view, including the bathroom. When choosing interior materials, we always start with the palette of the building. This house is a combination of painted-white, bagged blockwork and a lightweight timber construction with a roof that flicks up to the rear. Reflecting this in the bathroom, we have a wall covered in white, hexagonal, glazed-ceramic tiles and white fittings, and a timber vanity with triplicate mirrors to allow for more light. So, plenty of storage is provided along with mirrored surfaces for tasks. We like our bathrooms to have some aspect to the site, the property and nature beyond – and, with this one, there was no privacy issue as the house is on the edge of a cliff. Big sliders open out and away, so you can be brushing your teeth while stepping out to look at the view.”

Raw energy – Julian Guthrie, architect, on the Hobson Bay House in Auckland

“I think this is a beautiful space stripped back to the raw essence of a bathroom. You wouldn’t normally have this design inside the house but it works in the room next to the swimming pool. It possesses a raw materiality – and the cedar batten ceiling makes it smell like a sauna. The house itself is constructed in concrete so we extended the concrete from the outside to the inside walls, giving it a shuttered finish and a strong rustic character. The floor is kwila decking concealing a free-draining shower tray underneath. The space is fully enclosed but lets in light from above through a circular skylight. One wall is covered in small, deep-green-grey glass Artedomus tiles to match the lining of the pool and these have a lustrous watery quality to them. The raw aesthetic continues with exposed copper pipework and tapware, which gains a patina over time, and the custom-made terrazzo drum handbasin adds a crafted element.”

Among the elements – Megan Edwards of Megan Edwards Architects on the Herne Bay Villa in Auckland

“A covered outdoor deck allows a gentle progression from the interior living areas to the garden. The outdoor shower was provided to rinse off after swimming in the local bay. It is integrated into the outside of the vertical cedar deck railings, and the area is stepped down from the deck and shielded from the outdoor area by the deck railings, which, along with the step, form a nook for the outdoor shower and sink. The vitex used for deck and steps continues to form the base of the shower. The modern LouvreTec roof was softened by adding cedar soffits and copper spouting, and the cladding on the back of the shower is the same grey-stained cedar; the effect is low key and natural. The fitting for the shower is one not designed specifically for outdoors but, apparently, it weathers reasonably well in this kind of non-marine context.”