A Door in the Shower!
Warm days that lure us into spending more time outdoors have arrived in much of the country already and get you thinking more about your yard. Whether it is an afternoon at the beach or a day working in the garden, most folks try to take advantage of gorgeous summer days. And the hotter you get while engaged in these activities, the more it gets you thinking again about how wonderful it would be to have a pool in your backyard!
If you are someone who already has a backyard pool or Jacuzzi sunk into a deck, or if you are just beginning to think about the possibility, you’ll need to consider how you allow access by people in wet bathing suits to your home. Often a backyard re-do necessarily includes a bathroom remodel.
Here we see a narrow bathroom that is actually in a windowless pool pavilion in Sarasota, Florida. The room leads to an outdoor spa and pool that is accessed through the door in the shower. I have recently designed a secondary bathroom in a beach house that features a sliding glass door placed in the shower wall that leads to a sidewalk path to the beach. In so doing, a troop of little grandchildren can come in sandy and shower off before tracking little dirty feet into the house. It is the most practical way to make limited space function and moreover such a door serves as a source of much appreciated natural light that seeps inside. You might use frosted glass, colored glass, or patterned safety glass.
Another way that architect Jonathan Parks invites light into this room is by using a double row of glass block high on the sink wall. “Japanese design is based on nature, and the fish is a common motif,” says Park. “The underbelly of a fish is always lighter at the top, and we used glass mosaic tiles to get the same effect.” Notice how the mosaics in the shower area start darker on the floor and then gracefully become a lighter blend as you reach the top of the shower and door outside.
Another way that he allowed light into the space was with the set of shoji-screen sliding pocket doors that lead to the rest of the pavilion and refrain from taking up precious space that would happen if he had used a traditional swing-type door. Another design element that helps to keep the space open is the use of a thick clear glass shower enclosure. It is minimal and allows the illusion of complete openness.
It is important to get the details of the water-proofing for any door placed in a shower leading to the outside. This is a wet area and as such you will want to avoid a wood framed door. Look instead for aluminum clad swing door or sliding door. While this particular room serves mainly as a changing room for swimmers and spa-goers, you can easily imagine this as a working bathroom in any home. Where most would expect to find a venting window, instead many situations might benefit from a working door to the outside.
Imagine that it might lead to a private garden oasis to allow sunbathing or yoga practice. It might lead to a pool or spa. Or it might lead to an enclosed area with a water fountain that invites relaxation and meditation. There could even be situations where such a door could provide another exit for safety reasons in a home that otherwise only has one way of egress. Perhaps a door in the shower is a new idea for you to try on, but it can allow for many creative uses of the area outside the bathroom.
BACK
Copyright © Copley News Service. Used with permission.
