A toilet in the kitchen

An Australian studio offers a new architectural concept

A room with a view of a different kind has hit the inner Sydney rental market.

A Surry Hills studio that seamlessly blends the kitchen with the bathroom is asking $380 a week.

The renovated studio has done away with those pesky bathroom walls and opened up the small space through the use of glass walls.

“If you are looking for a city chic pad to come home to, then look no further!” says the listing. “This studio apartment will suit the urban dweller who craves simplicity and style that this apartment has to offer, as well as living in the vibrant and culturally diverse suburb of Surry Hills”.

The studio, which is offered two weeks’ free rent, has a lounge area with wall-mounted television and a modern kitchen.

Both areas can be admired from the “immaculate Italian designer tiled bathroom”, which features a shower, toilet, and a bidet sprayer, a potentially in-demand household item, given the city’s recent toilet paper shortage.

While frosted glass on one side of the bathroom provides somewhat of a visual barrier between the kitchen and the loo, a clear pane of glass on the adjacent side leaves the shower and toilet in plain sight.

Property manager Emma Mattiuzzo of Exclusive Real Estate said the studio has been seeing reasonable interest despite its unusual design and the pullback in rental demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s a unique property not because of its size but because of the way it’s been finished. The bathroom walls are made of glass to give the illusion of more space,” Ms. Mattiuzzo said.

Singles, couples, and even two brothers had expressed interest in the studio, Ms. Mattiuzzo said, but she has yet to have any takers on the studio, which until recently had been on the short-term holiday rental market.

She said the overseas-based owner decided to put the studio up for a longer-term lease, due to the drop-off in international and local tourism.

Those who like the idea of being able to watch television from the shower, or keep an eye on the cooking from the toilet, will have to be prepared to pay a little more for the renovated studio.

Two original-condition studios in the same building, complete with bathroom walls, are currently being advertised for $300 and $295 a week. Meanwhile, a newly renovated fully furnished studio has an asking rent of $495 a week.

As unusual as this apartment may be, it is not one of a kind.

In neighboring Darlinghurst, a compact studio also offers its tenants the opportunity to keep an eye on their cooking, and the rest of the tiny studio, from the comfort of the glass-walled bathroom.

The 14-square-meter studio, complete with a toilet mere steps from the kitchen sink and stove, last sold for $350,000 in 2016.

“Must be seen to be believed!” read the listing, which was up for just over half the year before the studio was snapped up. Records show it was last advertised for rent in 2015 for $345 per week.

This idea gives a new concept of living in the house. More freedom, where you can experience a cup of tea while you’re on the loo, for example. Obviously, you need a roommate or friends who shares this view and doesn’t feel embarrassed because it’s like joining the sacred and profane in the same place.

Source domain.com.au