Roman bath

Custom Home, April, 2005 by Shelley D. Hutchins

For this 2,000-square-foot spa/pool house pavilion in Coral Gables, Fla., a shower of majestic proportions was needed. "It's really a cooling space for the steam room and sauna--a transition, also, between other spa areas and the hot rooms," says architect Carlos Gonzalez-Abreu, principal of Miami-based Gonzalez-Abreu/Alas Architects.

He found his inspiration in Rome's Pantheon, with its dome crowned with an open-air skylight. Terracotta tiles cover the dome of this Florida version, which reaches 14 feet and also culminates in a round skylight. Although the zellige tiles were hand glazed and painted in Morocco, Gonzalez-Abreu designed an Italian pattern to fit the Mediterranean style of the spa and house. A custom plumbing system spans the shower's 11-foot diameter, hanging about 8 feet above marble mosaic floors. The mosaics underfoot are complemented by mosaics in four curved art niches. Limestone tiles used on the octagonal walls match those throughout the rest of the spa and main house. Symmetrically positioned doorways lead to steam bath, sauna, bathroom, dressing, and exercise rooms as well as a resting alcove tinged with built-in seating. Gonzalez-Abreu speculates that the shower simulates being inside the Pantheon in the rain: "You can't see the source, but natural light beams down to give the feeling of an outdoor rain bath."