| |
| |
|
| |
|
Ten Important
Elements of a Good Bathroom. |
|
|
| A
little planning along with a thoughtful selection
of fittings and fixtures can make all the difference. |
|
It' s one of
the first rooms we see in the morning and one
of the last rooms we see at night. It's certainly
among the most private rooms in the house, and
the finishes, fixtures and mechanical equipment
required by even a simple bathroom place it among
the most expensive rooms to fit in the house.
Given the intimate nature of bathrooms and the
frequency with which they are used, I think their
design and detailing should also impart a measure
of emotional well-being to their users. In this
spirit, I offer ten suggestions for making a good
bathroom that can enhance some of your everyday
experiences.
|
|
|
| 1.
An entrance transition
Except
for the so-called master bath, most
bathrooms serve several users and
need to be placed in a location central
to these users, usually halfway between
the private parts of the house and
the more public parts. Don't have
a bathroom with multiple-door access.
Instead, create an entrance with a
space outside the door—maybe
an alcove off the hallway that gives
some privacy from the main rooms or
circulation area and with a little
room inside the door before reaching
the bathroom fixtures. |
|
2.
Room like proportions
Too many bathrooms are simply hallways
with the fixtures lining one side
of the hall. It is hard to make a
pleasant room of that shape. First,
a good room is roughly square or rectangular
with length-to-width proportions not
exceeding 2:1. In almost every good
room, there is a clear central space,
a centre with smaller spaces like
alcoves around the edges. A bathroom
can be designed using these principles
in miniature. There can easily be
a central space that contains the
entry, with some elbow room for washing
and drying off and with alcoves around
the edges for the toilet, the shower
or the bath |
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
3. A good window
Natural
light and a view to the outside are important
in the bathroom. Our first understanding
of the weather and the general look of the
day comes in the window. Ideally, windows
are on at least two sides of the room to
provide even daylight. If privacy is an
issue, make multiple windows face a courtyard
garden, perhaps with an outdoor shower.
If you have room for only one window, place
it where it illuminates the portion of the
room that you see when you enter.
|
|
4. From the least intimate places to
the most intimate places
Another
principle that applies to residential design
in general and to the bathroom in miniature
is "the intimacy gradient." Just
as you locate the bedrooms the farthest
from the front door, you should locate the
most private part of the bathroom the greatest
distance from the entry to the room. The
most private part varies from family to
family, with the toilet being the most private
for some and the bath for others.
|
| |
|
|
5.
Borrowed views
In a
small space such as a bathroom, it
is difficult to get a direct view to the
outside from each space. But it is possible
to borrow the view across another space
or another fixture. A shower is a good example.
It needs to be enclosed with water-resistant
materials. So a window in a shower with
an exterior wall, particularly a beautiful
wood window, is not an ideal candidate for
part of a shower enclosure. There are a
number of positions that the shower can
take in the bathroom that will allow for
a good view through a clear glass shower
door.
|
|
6.
Pay attention to vertical and horizontal
dimensions.
Certain minimum clearances around bathroom
fixtures are required by every building
code. My own experience is that you need
about 36 in. of elbow room at the lavatory
to use it comfortably. Its counter is
typically between 31 in. and 34 in. high.
The rule: You want the water to run off
your wrists, not your elbows. A double-lavatory
arrangement is mostly ornamental unless
it has 6 ft. of counter space. A toilet
compartment is tight at the code minimum
of 30 in., about right at 36 in. and a
waste of space after that. In fact, after
40 in., you lose touch with the walls
on each side and the sense of enclosure
they provide. Although the minimum dimension
for a shower stall is 30 in., it must
also have no less than 1,024 sq. in. of
finished interior area. This amount is
really minimal, and I wouldn't recommend
less than 36 in. square, or a 30-in. by
48-in. rectangular shower if you can find
the room.The standard length for a bath
is 60 in.,and many are 66 in. and 72 in.
long. If you get a deep, rounded-back
claw-foot type, you can easily be comfortable
with a 54-in. or a56 in. long bath unless
you're taller than 6 ft. I recommend,
however, that you make an honest evaluation
of whether you really ever use a bath
and consider instead putting money into
a nice shower. Just as any good room benefits
from a variety of ceiling heights, so
does a good bathroom. Make the ceiling
highest in the centre, and lower it around
baths, showers, toilet alcoves and window
seats. Any small room like a bathroom
can benefit from the visually expansive
effects of horizontal lines. This is often
seen in traditional bathrooms as a strong
cap on top of wainscoting. The lower part
of the wall is done in a water-resistant
finish such as tile or enamel paint and
is capped by a strong horizontal band
with plaster or wallpaper above. This
horizontal band combined with a baseboard
and sometimes a crown molding at the ceiling
adds horizontal lines that visually enlarge
the perimeter of the room. Two vertical
dimensions are often the subject of discussion
and sometimes construction changes. The
first is the height of sconces. I prefer
a framed mirror above a lavatory with
sconces on the side because they give
the best light to the sides of the face
and fewer shadows in the facial recesses
than light from above the face. The height
I use for sconces is the height of my
client. The last vertical dimension is
one of those little details that gives
me problems near the end of a project:
the water supply to the toilet. Place
it high enough, including the escutcheon,
to be out of the baseboard. I've found
that in. is enough to clear all but the
tallest baseboards and still leaves room
for a flexible connection to the toilet
tank.
|
|
| |
|
| |
7.
Water-resistant finishes
There is probably nothing nicer than ceramic
tile in a bathroom. Properly installed,
it is a cleanable, water-resistant surface
for floors, walls and shower enclosures.
If a whole wall need not be water resistant,
ceramic tile can also make a beautiful wainscot.
On floors, it can be colder on the feet
than other materials, such as wood, but
a simple area rug or a more expensive heat
pad under the tile can easily solve this
objection. Too much tile can change the
acoustics of a room, and you should keep
to softer materials on the ceiling and a
portion of the walls (or have lots of bars
for big fluffy towels). I have used wood
floors in many bathrooms, and with today's
tough floor varnishes, they can hold up
well to a modest amount of water as long
as it is not allowed to sit on the floor
for a long period of time. It seems a little
uncomfortable putting a toilet directly
on a wood floor, so I use a transition pad
made of a scrap of granite or marble for
toilets on wood floors. Another attractive,
traditional bathroom floor material is linoleum.
It is nothing like today's vinyl plastics.
Again, proper installation is important
for resistance to water. The only wall surfaces
that truly need to be water resistant are
the shower walls. There are a variety of
useful materials ranging from one-piece
molded enclosures to wall-size sheets of
materials to individual pieces such as tile.
In every instance, installation is critical,
particularly at joints, to the ultimate
success of the material. It is helpful to
have an easily cleanable surface around
the lavatory on the countertop and on the
walls immediately around the basin. Ceramic
tile is a good choice. Natural stone, polished
and sealed concrete, and other nonabsorbent
materials work well on both surfaces. On
walls, a good-quality enamel paint on smooth
plaster makes a cleanable, water-resistant
finish. |
 |
8.
Fixtures that really work
To
me, good-quality bathroom fixtures
mean enamelled cast iron for baths
and china for lavatories. I recently
remodeled the two bathrooms in my
1929 cottage. After 70 years, it was
finally time to replace the original
enamelled cast-iron baths. Cast iron
and china are still so commonly used
that the price difference between
these quality fixtures and bargain
fixtures is modest. Good fittings
such as taps and bath/ shower valves,
however, are noticeably more expensive
than run-of-the-mill fittings, sometimes
as much as triple the cost. I use
them, however, whenever I can afford
to put them in the budget because
over their life, they are still a
bargain when compared with average
fittings that last a far shorter period
of time. |
I
also have to admit that there is no
other tap that gives me the pleasure
of use as a classic Chicago or Rudge
tap. For finishes, stay with tried-and-true
nickel or chrome without the plastic
coatings. Someone's going to have
these taps in 50 years if you make
the correct choice. One piece of equipment
that has improved during the past
few years is the exhaust fan. They
are clearly quieter than five years
ago. Companies such as Broan and NuTone
have ceiling-mounted, barely audible
exhaust fans. Speaking of noise reduction,
the newer "coexcel" ABS
plastic drain pipe seems to be quieter
than the older ABS. But nothing can
replace cast iron for quietness in
a drain pipe that comes down the wall
of a first-floor living space. The
slight increase in material cost is
more than offset in the long run of
the life of the house.
|
 |
|
9.
Important accessories
Light
fixtures, towel bars, medicine cabinets,
furniture, switch-plate covers, shower
doors—there are hundreds of
opportunities to make decisions about
these kinds of details in a bathroom.
My advice: Keep them simple and straightforward.
Buy good quality that will last a
long time. Keep them related to each
other in design and materials, except
for the occasional humorous surprise.
Look for timeless qualities. Choose
things that you want to live with.
There is no reason you can't enjoy
even the most mundane item in your
bathroom (bottom photo). |
|
|
|
10. The lost art of bathing
The
previous suggestions will help you
to make the ordinary bathroom that
you use several times each day a pleasant,
enjoyable place. Sometimes, though,
you want to go beyond that and experience
the real pleasure of bathing. The
deep relaxation of hot water, the
peaceful pleasure of bathing with
family or friends, and the therapy
of quiet immersion in water are all
aspects of the art of bathing. The
oversize master bathrooms in the pseudo
mansions of the late 20th century
only hint at this fundamental human
need. The essence has been lost in
the cheap materials typically used
to build them. To re create this experience
requires a deep, profound examination
of the history and tradition of bathing
and the environment needed to support
it fully. My sense is that the quality
of the room as a space—with
places to sit around the perimeter,
with good natural light and with good
connections to a private outdoor space—are
paramount to creating this experience
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
