Why is the toilet being built next to the kitchen? I understand the question

Last Friday night, vacationing with family friends. In the conversation, it turned out that they were looking for an apartment. And they have a question for me, as for a plumber, namely: Why, in 80% of apartments, no matter whether in a new building or a secondary building, the toilets are located next to the kitchens?

Interesting question, isn't it? They described the following situation: One of the family members is in the bathroom, performing morning procedures. The rest are having breakfast. And it often happens that the smell from the toilet can penetrate the kitchen. An unpleasant "aura" is created, spoiled mood and lack of appetite are guaranteed for the whole family. I think this situation is familiar to many reading this blog.

The layout of the bathroom and kitchen was created by the author of the channel in the program "Easymnemo"

It turns out that this non-aesthetic decision of the architects has a prosaic explanation. Now I will tell you about it.

In the illustration above (which I created specifically for this article), we see the approximate location of the kitchen and toilet, they are located nearby, respectively, odors can penetrate into adjacent rooms in the event of faulty ventilation or when opening doors from these premises. This position of the bathroom is due to a number of reasons, but before talking about them, let's turn to this layout:

Let's say there is an apartment with a separate bathroom or kitchen. There is a corridor or rooms in between. In this case, it is more difficult or almost impossible for odors from the toilet to get to the place of eating.

Why not do all the apartments, according to the layout, as in the second version? Everything rests on the question of economy.

When the bathroom and kitchen are located in different corners of the apartment, it requires a larger amount of pipeline, both sewerage and water supply, exactly twice. Plumbers' labor costs also increase both in time and in monetary terms. And this option was not acceptable during the rapid pace of housing construction, namely the Khrushchev houses in Soviet times. Only in the 80s did they begin to make apartments with an improved layout and with a divorced toilet from the kitchen. In addition, developers are currently building apartments with maximum savings, so new apartments often have a kitchen and a bathroom nearby.