For those of you who have done any apartment hunting in New York City, I’m sure you’ve seen some of the horrors the city has to offer in terms of appliances and fixtures. My most recent search revealed a shower in the kitchen and a bathtub that was built into a tunnel only allowing access from the narrow end. I’ve seen mini-refrigerators and hot plates in place of normal kitchen appliances, and a sink that was mounted above the toilet in a bathroom the width of a hallway.

Profile Smart 305 Round Front Plus. Designed by Caroma.

It seems the sink mounted above the toilet wasn’t as crazy as I thought, based on a new fixture by Caroma that does exactly that. The Profile Smart 305 Round Front Plus is a standard looking toilet with an elongated tank that has a sink instead of a lid. Conceptually I understand the benefits of the design: the toilet is a high efficiency dual flush system which incorporates the sink for increased water and space savings. After flushing, fresh cold water is directed to the faucet for hand washing and is then drained into the tank to be used for the next flush. It is a miniature greywater system, which is highly coveted by LEED designers. The Profile Smart received the Popular Mechanics Product Breakthrough award for innovative design and engineering in 2008.

Let us now look at this from a non-engineer design standpoint. Men are more accustomed to approaching a toilet in this way, but as a woman I have a hard time imagining the comfort in standing over the toilet so I can wash my hands. Where does one set her toiletries? For a public bathroom I think this is a great idea, but at home I’ll look for other ways to save water that don’t include losing my counter space.