Party Section Elevation

An Architect’s House – Master Shower

On June 24, 2010, in My House, by Bob Borson

I have been working on selecting plumbing vessels and faucet sets on one of our projects here at the office and seeing all the really great stuff that is out there just makes me salivate for the time when I can address the needs of my own bathroom. I don’t anticipate any work beginning in the near future but I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the current layout, situation and issues that lie before me. I would state for the record that my wife and I have differing opinions about our bathroom; she is for blowing things up and starting over and I would rather work with what I have and just clean it up.

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Existing Master Bathroom Plan

So this is the plan – hopefully everyone here can read plans so I am just going to fast forward a little and get to the narrative. We have a playroom for a shower – even by today’s standards, this 8′ x 8′ shower room is large. But that is only one of the issues (not that large is bad but it isn’t necessarily good either). Some of the highlighted issues are:

Party Section Elevation

  • The ‘bathtub’ isn’t really a bathtub – it’s a glorified depression into the slab. The one positive I will say about this ‘feature’ is that it lowers you down which ends up providing you some visual protection from the outside.
  • There was a leak of something in the past and the bottom 12″ or so of the wet wall were demolished and then replaced with an unfortunate tile selection. When we bought the house, there was a 1/4″ – 1/2″ gap along the wall where I can only assume water was going to die (but most assuredly trying hard to take out a bunch wood with it along the way). At least I was able to use some clear silicon and take care of that issue so future water damage averted but we have to look at it.
  • There is a lot of wood in the shower which surprisingly looks great (at least by great I mean ‘undamaged’).

  • There are/ were pendant light fixtures hanging down INTO THE SHOWER!! If that doesn’t make you raise an eyebrow, you must have liked your time working in the Russian Gulag. I pulled 2 of the three fixtures out and installed some vapor lights. The one I haven’t change yet is a heat lamp that despite the obvious safety hazard, I don’t want to freeze. The pendant light you can see located in the toilet room is one of the relocated fixtures from the shower. The glass housing was broken on the one in the bathroom and one of the two in the shower and having a bare light bulb hanging down in your shower is just wrong (you heard that here first). When  I took them out of the shower, I replaced the one in the bathroom.

view from the main shower entry into the courtyard

  • It gets cold because the shower is on two exterior walls, one of which is a large sliding glass door, which leads us to,
  • There is a large sliding glass door in the shower! Maybe when you are young and stupid you don’t mind standing naked in a room with your stuff on display to any stranger brave enough to look but when your my age, it takes some getting used to.

In case you have to go during the shower

  • There are 3 sets of sliding doors in the shower (that’s right – 3); One from the bathroom, one from the outdoor patio, and one from the toilet room. Mmmmm, direct access from the toilet to the shower. I can think of all kinds of reasons why that is super convenient but since I don’t live in a 3rd world country, most of them don’t apply. Something else that always struck me as funny is that the all the glass sliding doors from inside the house have privacy glass whereas the doors to the outside of the house are clear. Yeah, that totally makes sense because strangers don’t judge the size of your ass like the people who love you.

The courtyard outside the shower - thinking about installing some stadium seating and selling tickets

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So those are all the obvious issues that need to be addressed in some form but despite them, or maybe it’s because of them, I still like the space – just not that much as a shower and don’t want to blow it up and start over. Whenever I have let my architect friends come over and tour the house, as soon as they see the shower their first reaction is “I’m down to party”. Gross. That alone will force my hand into taking action, (just not the party kind of action).

(if you are interested in the first two installments, you can find Part I here and Part II here)

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About the author

Bob Borson

Dallas architect who specializes in modern design. I'm AIA, Leed AP, NCARB certified, and previous Dallas AIA Young Architect of the Year (2009).

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  • Zane D.

    wow, my first thought when I saw the size and layout of the shower was….locker room! the sunken “tub” area looks like a waste. maybe you could raise the floor to get rid of the tub, and carve out a space for a sauna in there, probably on the wall where the shower head is now with the door facing the slider towards the bedroom.

  • bobborson

    You are right that there is a lot of wasted space but I have become nostalgic about the sunken 'tub'. It is so big that last summer I filled it up and my 5 yr old daughter swam in it! That was awesome.

    The other thing that the sunken area provides is some visual protection from the outside world. By lowering you down approx. 12″, someone would have to scale the outdoor patio wall to sneak a peak. With all that wood, I would be hesitant to turn part of it into a sauna because that would require either removing or protecting everything from 6'8″ and up.

    Eventually I think the item that will drive the solution is how we deal with the outside patio.

    (but now you have me thinking about a Japanese soaking tub – Hmmm…)

  • Kelly

    Ha – I recognize that floor plan and layout – always thought they were intrinsic to California.I've remodeled a few of those–usually slab floors, aluminum sliders and that lovely killer step from toilet to tub too! (Talk about wake-up call.)

    I have raised that “tub” area (still sloped), but hard to change the sliders as they're odd sizes (at least here they are.) Also all that counter space and the sink's still shoved to corner.

    Still, it's bright and airy.

    Could you split the difference with a Japanese soaking tub and a separate shower? Or is that too much slab work? Looks like there's room (close off toilet door with window.) Cover the patio, stick a flat screen on the patio wall, and a nearby bar fridge and there you go!

    (okay, maybe not…)

  • Tim G.

    I have to say that I agree with your wife on this one Bob. It's going to be a struggle at best to cover up the ugly features with a little make-up.

    The basics of the layout are all wrong, the shower is a waste of space, and you could come up with a much more practical and efficient layout of the entire master bath is you started with a clean slate.

    If you step back and read your post as an outsider, you will even notice your own internal struggle for which there are no ideal solutions. Bomb it and give your wife what she wants!

  • bobborson

    Tim,

    You are forbidden from commenting ever again (until you realize that I am always right)

    I know – I hear you. The solutions that I have in my mind aren't small either but whatever the solution, I will try and keep in the style and spirit of the rest of the house – which means not covering stuff up. I debated including some of the design process sketches here but thought it would be more interesting to see what people think.

    So actually, thanks for commenting (but I've got my eye on you)

  • bobborson

    Ha! Anything involving a fridge and a TV can't be that bad (I learned that in college). I want to keep all the functionality (shower and a tub as well as an enclosed toilet room). We have done some bathrooms in the last few years where the tub is inside the shower and people seems to love them. It's possible that I will have to consider just about everything because everything needs attention.

  • Karen

    Bob, much as you like it, I keep thinking that if this is a “forever” house for you and your wife, you won't like the stepping up/down/over raised sliding door thresholds so much as you age. Love the size of the rooms, just might consider a slight interior remodel with leveling the floor, opening doorways and creating openings for light in lieu of the sliding interior door. Actually if you landscaped the exterior patio with some wonderful plants, it might be a lovely view out as you are in your shower… (and by the way, your links in the post both link to Part II)

  • http://twitter.com/ecomod Becky Shankle

    You guys are all wrong. The obvious solution is convert the tub to the toilet/composting area & put the shower where the throne is. What?

  • tdatx

    Bob,
    Your section is now my favorite sketch ever. It has earned a place in my screensaver photo collection, which is mostly my own photography. Everyone always stares at it when it comes on during meetings – this one should get a reaction. Usually, I have to wonder what the designer was thinking when I see a perplexing design – I know exactly what they were thinking here – except for the direct access of the toilet to the bath/shower.

  • bobborson

    Hi Karen,

    I don't think this will be a forever house, hopefully I will get to start from scratch somewhere and show my wife what I do for a living. There are also several other level changes in the slab (soon I will put the entire floor plan in here). The main room steps down and back up again to get into the library. I'm afraid you would not find it very accomodating. I also think that the reason the person we bought it from sold it was because it was difficult for him to move around. During one of our pre-purchase visits, we saw a wheelchair in the kitchen and there was a chair and walker in the master shower.

    Thanks for pointing out the link issue – I fixed that right away. Glad to hear you are getting some sunshine – my sister is really enjoying the weather now.

    Cheers!

  • janice

    Hey Bob,

    What you SHOULD do is get a pool and convert your shower room into a pool shower room. OH SHNAP!
    That way everything will make sense.

    (I second tdatx on your sketch. It's great!!)

  • bobborson

    I would love a pool – the last two had them and we were in it all the time. Our backyard is long and narrow so it would be good for swimming laps (ugh) and floating on a raft with a drink (more my speed).

    And I'm glad that you and tdatx enjoy my juvenile sense of humor. I did make one where the dude had a “inappropriate” modesty panel as well but thought I might be guilding the lily….

  • Karen

    Yes, the weather has changed, at least for the last few days and our moods are MUCH elevated. When the weather is clear and sunny here, it is like paradise! Well, sorry to hear that you have lots of up/down levels but when you get to do your own forever house, you can consider your future needs at that time. Until then, maybe some of that stick-on film in the critical height zones of the exterior sliding glass door will accomplish the same “masking” that you had in your section, LOL! Happy Nearly-Friday!

  • Pingback: We are remodeling our bathroom. What is in style as far as chrome, pewter or brass?

  • Terry

    Sort of a Romanesque 'bring your friends' shower room. Maybe not the most economic use of space, but the photos look cool on the blog! Regarding ticket sales, I suggest starting off on the low end…

  • bobborson

    Low end? *ZING*

    I was thinking tickets could only be purchased in bullion or Krugerrands (and that would be for a 'partially obscured view' seat). No paper currency please

  • Terry

    Like all things in the marketplace, the price should be driven by the level of demand. How much are Krugerrands going for these days…?

  • Terry K

    We have a big shower, built 1989, 30 square feet with a pretty big window, about 11 square feet. When we did the renovation this is the only place the architect, designer and wife paid any attention to me: I wanted a window, I didn’t want any shower curtain or shower door. I wanted it to feel like a locker room. On sunny winter mornings we can feel the sun on our skin. Anyway, it’s the best home shower I’ve seen, even in the new luxury houses that have $50K tile jobs and 25 water squirters. Now as for the grout, I don’t want to see grout ever again…

  • http://www.doubleglazingwarwick.com/ Double Glazing Warwick

    Your shower room looks very manly no wonder. Your designs are quite simple yet it has an alluring appeal and very modern. Most of bachelors in our generation will surely wants to see more of you designs. Keep up the good work.

  • http://twitter.com/TheDecorGirl Decor Girl

    I guess we all buy “projects.”  The new master suite is our “forever” plan, make that a master suite since I already gutted the old one and turned it into a good sized media room.  It was in a stupid location for a master (not loving the idea of taking a tinkle while looking out the 5 ft tall window at deer either) and was unworkable.

    What was it with brown tile?  I have it too.  I mean let’s not enhance the purpose of the room with color cues.  Thanks though, I feel better now.