Bath: Asia calling

Residential Architect, June, 2005 by Shelley D. Hutchins

Out the kitchen doors and across the courtyard, a quiet master suite is the antithesis of the kitchen's constant buzz. The client travels extensively on business and asked that the master bath replicate the peaceful escape of high-end hotels--specifically Tokyo's Park Hyatt. A grid encapsulates the room in soothing symmetry. Pale ceramic tiles span the floor and climb the walls. On one wall, the grid manifests as storage cubes with center squares left open for an artful display of eye-catching toiletries.

Acid-etched glass tops the twin vanities, which face opposite directions--a marriage peacekeeper, jokes Petrarca. Concrete-capped end walls extend above counter height to hide quotidian clutter. A taller version screens the shower stall. The open shower faces a bathtub surrounded by heated concrete that makes a cozy platform for shaving or just lounging under the spray. Climbing the steps to the shared shower-tub area, bathers shed the stresses of the day.