Floor area: 12,60 + 4,00m2

Type: Commission

Planning: 1999

Completion: 1999

Location: Vienna, Austria

Material: granite (Cashmere White), stainless steel, ornamented glass, maple wood, mosaic tiles

 

The apartment is on three levels in a seven-storey building in the eighteenth district of Vienna. For the renovation scheme the owner requested that the redesign of the two existing bathrooms should make the most functional use of their generous volumes. The shower is one of the new additions. The enclosure, with three ornamented glass sides, is positioned between the bathtub and the toilet (which is thus masked from view). The colours are light, bright and relaxing. The wall behind the bathtub, shower and toilet recess is clad in mosaic, in a blend of subtle shades of green, whose chromatic differences are so slight as to be barely perceptible, appearing almost as a plain green surface. Half of the opposite wall has a mirror and along its entire length a “Cashmere White” granite top (the same material used for the floor, shower tray and bathtub side). Carved out of this surface is the large washbasin, served by two wall-mounted taps. The large reflecting surfaces are actually sliding partitions that open to reveal a cavity between the mirror partitions and the wall in which two niches have been created. With a surprising simplicity the project confirms what each of us already knows. The bathroom plays a major part in our lives because it influences what are the two important moments of the day: waking up and going to bed.