Talking Teak

Karen D. Singh, Craig Kellogg, and Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 1/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

 

Generations of garden-furniture manufacturers have relied on teak for its resistance to rain and humidity. So William Garvey was only taking the next logical step, inside to the bathroom, when he started building custom sinks from the hardwood, harvested in Myanmar in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Moving on to shower stalls, he combined a PVC core, teak-veneered panels, and solid teak trim, with recesses for soap and other scrubbing essentials.

After seven years of custom bathroom work, Garvey has introduced two lines of tubs and sinks made from solid teak and teak-veneered marine-grade plywood. The Japanese-style Geo deep single bath, with optional seat, is indeed deep, 29½ inches to be precise. With the Geo standard single bath, the depth shrinks to 21 inches, while length stretches out to a Western-standard 65. The boxy Geo basin can be mounted on a wall or counter. Another sink, the Helio basin, is roughly the size and shape of a wooden salad bowl. Quadruple that, and you've got the freestanding Helio bath, 67 inches in diameter. 44-1404-841430; williamgarvey.co.uk. circle 434