Client Brief

This Power Room is one of five bathrooms in the house we were engaged to design in this house. Its main function is to act as a powder room for guests who visit, and to serve as a shower/changing room for the outdoor pool area. The brief from the clients was for a simple, yet dramatic space that fitted in with the contemporary architecture of their house.

Designer’s Response

The centrepiece for the design of this small room is a beautiful, organic basin, chosen for its melodramatic shape, and enhanced by a large theatrical oversized mirror that not only reflects light, but also make the room feel larger.

One of the biggest challenges faced was fitting all three elements – a feature basin, a shower and a toilet – into an odd-shaped room that had two entrances. Accordingly the shower is positioned next to the door out to the pool, and the toilet next to the internal door to the main living areas.

As this room was to be used as a transitional space – where storage was not high on the list of requirements, but drama was – both myself and my clients felt that cabinetry would detract from the feature basin, and was therefore unnecessary. Where storage was needed, cavities were recessed into the walls for the heated towel rail and a shampoo/soap shelf.

The colour scheme, apart from the white basin, is black – large format black tiles, black tapware and black accessories, including a porcelain freestanding sculpture that is used for an extra towel or holding magazines. Black adds drama to the space, plus allows that incredible statement basin to ‘sing’ within the room.