Woman snapped in Leo Molloy’s HQ bar’s see-through toilet window speaks out

The location of Leo Molloy's new HeadQuarters in what was O'Hagan's. Photo / file

A woman who can be seen using the toilet through a clear window in a clip of Leo Molloy’s new viaduct bar HeadQuarters has spoken out.

Molloy’s new hospitality spot on Auckland’s waterfront has women’s toilets on the first floor that, until yesterday, had clear glass windows giving a clear view into the top half of each cubicle.

The woman, who wants to be known only as Becks, said she instantly recognised herself after seeing a social media post.

“I saw the post and said ‘I was there that night’ and then when I saw the video I spotted myself and my green top immediately.

“There is no doubt it was me.”

The clip was shared over the weekend by TikTok user @celp333 and had been viewed more than 140,000 times and shared more than 1000.

Mother of one Beck said she was enjoying a rare night out with some girlfriends when she went to the bathrooms after hours of dancing.

“We had an amazing night, it is a great venue with a mix of ages and a great vibe,” she said.

“We went to the loo and straight away I thought, oh, everyone is going to be able to see me - they can see right in from the waist up.”

Becks said because she was wearing a top she wasn’t too worried and used the toilet anyway.

“I really felt for younger girls with less on and anyone wearing a jumpsuit.”

“It was a massive design flaw in otherwise really lovely toilets.”

The video posted showed the windows with at least three women using the toilet. One appeared to be naked.

The woman known as Becks said she spotted herself in green immediately.

Feedback to the video was swift and condemned the bar for not taking the need for privacy seriously.

Those commenting described the use of clear widows as “gross”, “dangerous” and “illegal”.

The Building Code rules: “There shall be no direct line of sight between an access route or accessible route and a WC, urinal, bath, shower or bidet.”

Becks said the clear-glass might be a better feature in the men’s bathroom.

“A loo with a view might be better suited to a guy using a urinal and looking out the window but it didn’t work in the women’s toilet at all,” Becks said.

Molloy was quick to respond to the negative feedback and had a film put on the windows yesterday.

When the bar traded as O’Hagans the glass was frosted but Molloy said they were recently replaced.

“We were going to have Panama shutters so people could choose to have a view or not but we are having them fixed today.

“It was deemed a good idea at the time to have a loo with a view but based on the negative feedback we will frost them out.”

Becks was pleased with the quick response.

“Apart from the windows, there was a lot of thought that went into making the bathrooms a nice place to use with big mirrors and nice decor,

“The windows were the only thing that let them down.”