A Bath Without Boundaries
As Americans, we are accustomed to having a room for everything: we have mudrooms, TV rooms, game rooms, living and dining rooms, and bathrooms. But the bathroom in particular is becoming more than a place in which we bathe; it’s a place to escape and enjoy a little bit of spalike heaven. Scandinavians have long known this and built their bathrooms to reflect the desire for utilitarian luxury by making the best of small, Old-World spaces through the creation of a wetroom. Wetrooms usually are without the traditional boundaries of shower doors or curtains, and there often is no shower pan or even a tub, just a central drain—like one big shower room. As American designers and homeowners recognize the value of an additional or central bathroom, wetrooms are showing up more and more, in incarnations both large and small.
Bonus room
Wetrooms often are a strong selling point, especially for lovers of the modern, minimalist design. This was true for Heather Alhadeff and her partner, Matt Eberhart, when they took a look at a loft in the heart of Castleberry Hill last September. “The bathroom and shower were quite a component of why we bought it,” Alhadeff says. “It wasn’t the main reason, but it was definitely one of the ‘wow’ factors."
In 2000, Allen Hoss of Pimsler Hoss Architects designed the two-story loft space with a completely open floor plan, without any doors to the major living areas—with the exception of the water closet (of course!). To separate each space somewhat, Hoss set each room on a different level, including the wetroom, which has a two-step sunken area for the shower system. “The wetroom, when not in use, just molds to the design of the space,” Alhadeff says. Though most people love their privacy in the bathroom, she says she grew to love the unique design. “It matches with the whole look, but it’s a little unusual for people. And I was a little weirded out at first, but after the first time I used it, I thought, ‘yep, I love it.’ ”
Big ideas for a small space
When Cara DiPierro, an architect with NCG Architects, bought her home in the Kessler Building near Underground Atlanta, redesigning and updating her bathroom was a top priority from the moment she signed the papers.
“I had the space and thought, ‘why not?’ It was easy because I don’t have a door [on the bathroom],” says DiPierro, who completed her wetroom in October of last year. “When I first started the design, it took about two weeks to come up with the idea. I wanted to keep the costs low. I knew I only wanted to break one wall and not change the entranceways to do it.” The original bathroom was about 5 feet by 6 feet, with a tub/shower combination, so DiPierro had the back wall knocked out to create a stand-up shower area with a single-handle tub and shower faucet. At the back of the area, she installed a
Jacuzzi tub, which can be used as a whirlpool or as an effervescent experience.
She stumbled a bit during her remodel when unexpected changes had to be made to the floor plan. “Originally I had wanted to make it handicap accessible for resale, but it isn’t anymore,” she says. There was piping in the flooring she couldn’t remove, so she had a 10-inch step built into the shower and tub area.
Since her wetroom still has somewhat of a separation between wet and dry areas, her space is more of an example of a transitional bathroom. This is a good choice if you are trying to remodel a smaller area with a limited budget.
Designed for everyone
DiPierro’s desire for accessibility is, in fact, one of the driving forces for wetroom design, according to Jill Weber, president of the local chapter of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. “As the population ages, adding accessibility will increase market share and add value to the home,” she says. She adds that modifying the home right now for future accessibility is a wise choice, because the modifications will give you the opportunity to stay in your own home longer as you continue to age, rather than having to move somewhere more accessible.
One new example of the universally designed wetroom was designed by Lisa Brooks as the mother-in-law suite’s bathroom for the Livable Lifetime Show House in Fayetteville. The house, produced by the Universal Design Alliance, was designed to accommodate families at all stages of life—from birth to well past retirement—so the house features such allowances as wider hallways with dent-resistant panels, open floor plans throughout and elevators.
Brooks was given a profile to follow as she designed the bathroom: a disabled live-in family member with arthritis who needed the constant use of a wheelchair. She paid great attention to detail as she created the room to the Americans with Disabilities Act specifications by making sure the roll-in shower had a seat, grab bars and a 5-foot turnaround radius. The shower system is flexible and adjustable for use with body sprays or as an extended-length handheld shower, which is long enough to reach fully around the body. The handles on the system were also designed for ease of use by arthritic hands. In addition to many more details, the entire bathroom was tiled with slip-resistant flooring all the way into the roll-in closet.
Brooks, who is the lead designer for Living Spaces Studio, also helped design a showroom with a wetroom look for a custom cabinetry company.
Whether you have a utilitarian view of your bathing space or enjoy a spalike feel, the wetroom may be the next step to creating a relaxing home that can release you from your usual boundaries. Who knew a bathroom could feel so free?
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