Side Aisle or Center Aisle

[luvrbus]

One advantage of a center aisle is that if you have roof A/C units, which are almost always on the center line of the roof, I have 3 in my Eagle, the air seems to flow better between rooms.

But the side aisle affords more privacy in the bedroom and may be better if someone is an early riser, whilst the other mate is not.  But then again, a door will do about the same thing...right?

And yes, if you have a center aisle, you will have a split bath, but is that all that bad?  With a split bath, one person could be using the commode and another one taking a shower at the same time.  Or I suppose you could put facing commodes both on one side of the bus so there is no waiting.

The other disadvantage of having a split bath, you may want to add two fart fans. One for the commode area and one for the shower to suck out the moisture.  But fans are cheap anyway.

Another disadvantage of a center aisle, as noted above, is that if the bathroom is occupied, no one can access the bedroom, which may or may not be a deal breaker.


And correct, you can put a door on each end so you end up with one BIG bathroom if you like.

And yes, good point about the center aisle allowing more insulative air space between the outside walls and the living area.  It may not make a big difference, but everything helps.

With a mid door entry like your bus Gary one doesn't have much of a choice except a center isle, the mid door entry on a bus is another can of worms,the fad now is building these things with a bath and a half 

[Jim Blackwood]

I can close the doors to the bathroom and the isle is clear into the bedroom. Plenty of space in the bathroom, shower is on the other side of the hall.
Of course, to take a shower the front door should be closed for privacy which by necessity means the bathroom is not available to anyone not in the bedroom. The rear door to the bedroom can be closed or open as desired. The two doors combine to make the wall that closes off the bathroom from the isle. As the shower will have a frosted door it would be possible to use the toilet while someone is in the shower with adequate privacy to both, it just means whoever is in the shower might want to wait to leave it until the bathroom is clear and the front door is closed again.

Jim

[lvmci]

Mine is center and open concept. Toilet door can open and close toilet bathroom and bedroom. Or close for just the toilet. ACs are along center, along with fantastic fans just off center in kitchen and shower. Kitchen L shaped counter is long with propane stove, sink and lip setup for 3 high stools. Microwave is in pantry with chrome wire slideout shelves, next to fridge. TV is on a swiveling pole, as wife used DVD recipes to make food sometimes, can watch while at countertop preparing, Thanks to B&B, Gary and Van...

[luvrbus]

I haven't seen a side isle on a new Prevost conversion in over 20 years,you could probably get one on special order,they do a lot of curves on newer buses to keep from having so many rattling doors though,I have a big dislike for pocket doors, I have four of the suckers made of solid wood and the slides and the $35.00 latch give me fits the top and bottom

[peterbylt]

When we were initially designing the interior I wanted to do a side aisle, But having given control of the design to the wife she wanted a center aisle bathroom, her reasoning being that if you can see from the front all the way to the back it will make the Bus appear larger and having just graduated up from a class C motorhome with a postage stamp sized side bathroom she wanted a BIG bathroom.

My reasoning for a side aisle was to just to congregate all the plumbing is one area.

As it turned out the only drain I had to run crosswise was the bathroom vanity.

The shower and toilet on the driver's side and the vanity on the curbside with a large closet across from the toilet.

We also put a door between the kitchen and bathroom and the closet door also doubles as the door between the bathroom and bedroom if someone really needs privacy or we need to close off the dogs in either the bathroom or bedroom.

Peter

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I haven't seen a side isle on a new Prevost conversion in over 20 years,you could probably get one on special order,they do a lot of curves on newer buses to keep from having so many rattling doors though,I have a big dislike for pocket doors, I have four of the suckers made of solid wood and the slides and the $35.00 latch give me fits the top and bottom

I never liked pocket doors either. I had an Aunt and Uncle that had them in their house and they never closed tight and were a hassle to open.  A friend of mine with a Prevost had a bathroom pocket door close and not open and that created some concerns for the person on the inside.  I am sure others have heard similar stories about those air-operated doors, which are just one more thing to go wrong like in this case.

[windtrader]

I'm fine with my center isle and it is highly function for two of us. I think it is similar to some other described here. It is wholly contained on one side. The vanity, toilet, and shower are in one area. There is a door that provides full privacy and allows passage to/from the bedroom. The door can be latched open and it then allows the bedroom and bathroom to become a private suite. This allows for cooling and heating to be confined too. Overall, very happy with the current layout and could not find any benefit from any other arrangement.

[epretot]

I never liked pocket doors either. I had an Aunt and Uncle that had them in their house and they never closed tight and were a hassle to open.  A friend of mine with a Prevost had a bathroom pocket door close and not open and that created some concerns for the person on the inside.  I am sure others have heard similar stories about those air-operated doors, which are just one more thing to go wrong like in this case.

The success of a pocket door relies upon two factors.

1. The material the framing is constructed from. If the pocket is made from metal, it will not function properly over time. That's not to say a higher guage metal wouldn't work, but in my experience, they are usually pretty flimsy. Wood ones are much better.

2. Installation. Many pocket doors are not installed properly or adjusted accordingly.

Pocket doors are great idea that are rarely well executed.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

The success of a pocket door relies upon two factors.

1. The material the framing is constructed from. If the pocket is made from metal, it will not function properly over time. That's not to say a higher guage metal wouldn't work, but in my experience, they are usually pretty flimsy. Wood ones are much better.

2. Installation. Many pocket doors are not installed properly or adjusted accordingly.

Pocket doors are great idea that are rarely well executed.

Maybe you should give Marathon a call and see if you can help them out, as their doors do get stuck either in or out sometimes and this panics the passengers. 

[Glennman]

I can see both sides of the discussion. I personally like the center aisle as I like the doubling of use of the space in the restroom (hallway doubles as restroom area). If I had a bunch of kids, I could see the side aisle, as it lends itself to more privacy. My wife and I are mostly traveling alone so the privacy is of no concern. I do like the L shaped kitchen though that the side aisle offers, but again, our fridge is directly across from the range, so we have a pretty good layout, in my opinion.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

If anyone decides to put a Bowling Alley, they will appreciate a center aisle better.  Just sayin'.   

[silversport]

Another disadvantage of a center aisle, as noted above, is that if the bathroom is occupied, no one can access the bedroom, which may or may not be a deal breaker.


And correct, you can put a door on each end so you end up with one BIG bathroom if you like.


Since it is only my wife and I if the bathroom is occupied the doors seldom are closed (we have nothing to hide). When the doors get closed is when she what's to sleep in the bedroom and I what to watch Die Hard in the front room.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

You can have a center bathroom with a center aisle with the commode off to one side, facing rearward, and a door to close it off.  I had this setup in my Discovery and I liked it. The Washer/Dryer unit was in the same room facing the commode as in this image, unlike this later model Discovery floor plan which I like a tad better.

[Jim Blackwood]

I'm not as good with drawings as Gary but I have a relatively large bathroom with vanity on one side with 2 doors in a kinda French door arrangement. You open that door all the way and it closes the bulkhead to the kitchen area and the other one can close the other bulkhead to the bedroom. That leaves a five foot long section for the combined bathroom and shower with a full sized window on each side and the escape hatch in the middle which is going to get the MaxxAir vented fan. Still some work to do but I expect to finish it over the winter.

No problem getting to the bedroom if someone is in the bathroom unless they are taking a shower. Then since the shower door is going to be frosted it still isn't much of a problem.

Jim

[luvrbus]

Every RV now is center aisle because of the slides but you never see the bathroom on slides wonder why ? must be because of the plumbing, mine has 2 large living and kitchen slides then the bathroom has none then bedroom has 2 slides, I still don't like pocket doors I have 3 in that small area with a large open curved shower