When did upscale office bathrooms become a thing?

Kai Ryssdal Apr 29, 2019
HTML EMBED:
COPY
Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images

When did upscale office bathrooms become a thing?

Kai Ryssdal Apr 29, 2019
Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

In offices around the country, restrooms are starting to look different. Some employers and commercial real estate designers are ditching dingy tiling and fluorescent lights in favor of floor-to-ceiling stall enclosures and soft lighting. Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal talked with the Wall Street Journal’s Keiko Morris about why upscale office bathrooms are trending in corporate America.

“There are a couple things going on here” Morris said. “One, you have had, for a very long time, the hospitality industry really elevating the bathroom design in public places, and people have become used to that — we’re talking about hotels, restaurants.

“And at the same time, you have office design becoming elevated. People are creating these open spaces, but also trying to create more comfortable, homey spaces. And so, part of the office design, also, is that more and more people are getting crammed into the open office space. And folks are realizing they need these spaces of respite.”

Click the audio player above to hear the interview. 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.