Our client wanted a bathroom, cloakroom and two ensuites updating with a more inspiring design and higher quality furniture and fittings.
Challenge
Our client had returned to settle in the UK after living abroad for a number of years. The property they purchased had recently had new ‘cheap and cheerful’ bathrooms installed throughout the house, but they were lacking in style. Our client wanted to replace them with a new set of bathrooms that had a unique design and plenty of ‘wow factor’.
Solution
We designed each room to make the most of the space. In some of the rooms where the eaves of the roof created restrictions, we made the most of the shapes created by the eaves and developed them as features of the room. We followed a unifying colour scheme with grey tones and ensured a consistency of style between rooms, but adjusted the furniture to add individuality into each room.
The client wanted to have a sophisticated lighting system throughout so that the rooms were well illuminated when required but that low level lighting was automatically available for use in the night. We installed PIR sensors throughout that are activated when someone enters the rooms. In the ensuites and the bathroom, the PIR sensors switch on niche lights and under basin LED strip lights to provide low level illumination at night. In the cloakroom, the sensors activate the main lights, creating a dramatic entrance to the room.
Bathroom
The client wanted a room that encompassed a bath with overhead shower, toilet and basin. To make the room unique we built out the wall which allowed the mirrored cabinet above the sink to be recessed to offer storage without obstructing movement over the basin. We designed a built-in bath with overhead shower with niche area for candles to create the inspiration that the client was looking for.
The bathroom includes the following elements:
- Crosswater fixed showerhead with hand held shower. The Crosswater Overflow Filler controls for the bath and shower use the overflow for the tap creating a sleek effect and allows the shower to be controlled away from the stream of water.
- Keuco shower basket which is a good quality product and includes an integrated squeegee to make it easy to keep the shower clean.
- Two panel Kudos shower screen that allows the screen to be folded away when the bath is in use.
- Zehnder ‘Ax Spa’ radiator in ‘Volcanic’ finish to tie in with the grey colour scheme. The dual element means that although the radiator is run off the central heating, an electric element can be switched on to heat and dry towels in the summer months when the central heating is not on.
- Villeroy & Boch ‘Subway’ vanity unit and basin and Keuco ‘Edition 400’ mirrored cabinet.
- Glass splashback behind sink and glass flush plate.
- Villeroy & Boch grey porcelain floor tiles from the ‘Astoria’ range and Villeroy & Boch wall tiles from the same range as the floor tiles in a lighter shade of grey.
- PIR sensor lighting that switches the niche lighting and under basin LED strip lighting when someone enters the room.
Cloakroom
As this room was going to have the most use by visiting guests, our client wanted this room to have an impactful design that would make the room really stand out. We designed a very unique solution for the long and quite narrow room that makes this shape a feature of the design rather than a hindrance. The moulded waterfall sink and acrylic worktop along the length of the room and designer Ambiance Bain vanity unit furniture below creates the ‘wow factor’ the client was hoping for.
The cloakroom includes the following elements:
- Ambiance Bain furniture in dark grey
- Non obtrusive extractor fan that opens when needed but remains closed the remainder of the time.
- Acrylic worktop with moulded waterfall sink.
- Zehnder tall white radiator with magnetic towel rail.
- Karndean flooring from the ‘Mico’ range which is warmer and easier to keep clean than porcelain tiles.
- PIR sensor lighting that switches the main lights on when someone enters the room.
Guest room ensuite
This is the smallest bathroom we worked with and there were restrictions with the eaves and shape of the room. Despite this, we created a design that made the shapes of the eaves a feature, such as using a large mirror cut to fit the shape of the wall. The use of the mirror also brings in more light and creates the feeling of space in the room.
Much of the furniture was made with bespoke elements to fit the non standard features of the room.
The ensuite includes the following elements:
- Majestic pentagonal shower enclosure from the ‘Venice’ range with bespoke handle
- Crosswater fixed showerhead with hand held shower.
- Bespoke Keuco ‘Edition 11’ vanity unit in ‘Cashmere’ with custom made corian bowl and worktop with Villeroy & Boch towel rail under the bowl.
- Waterfall tap by Crosswater from the ‘Water Square’ range.
- Small Zehnder heated towel rail with dual element from the ‘Subway’ range.
- Villeroy & Boch floor tiles from the ‘Avalon’ range in ‘Greige’ and Villeroy & Boch wall tiles from the ‘Metallic Illusion’ range in ‘Anthracite’.
- PIR sensor lighting that switches the niche lighting and under basin LED strip lighting when someone enters the room.
Master ensuite
The client wanted a large walk-in shower for their own ensuite bathroom. We suggested removing an adjoining cupboard in the bedroom to create a larger space to house what became the impressive 1600×900 shower. We built out the wall slightly between the bedroom and shower to allow for two niche storage areas to be created. We also added finishing touches for extra sophistication such as a towel rail within the shower enclosure to keep a towel at easy reach when showering.
The ensuite includes the following elements:
- Crosswater fixed showerhead with hand held shower with controls on the wall away from the water stream.
- Keuco vanity unit, basin and tap from the ‘Plan’ range.
- Keuco ‘Royal L1’ mirrored, illuminated cabinet.
- Wall hung toilet with glass flush plate
- Villeroy & Boch floor tiles from the ‘New Town’ range in ‘Greige’ and wall tiles from their ‘Fire & Ice’ range in ‘Steel Grey’. The metallic finish of the wall tiles creates a luminous effect, injecting some more ‘wow factor’ into the room.
“I’m delighted that we achieved the ‘wow factor’ that our client was hoping for. The bathrooms all work well together, they have been individually designed but the consistency of the overall style and colour scheme pulls them all together as an impressive collection of bathrooms. I couldn’t be happier about this project.”
– Steve Clarke
