Ah, Serenity

A Manhattan couple's confining bathrooms become tranquil, sculptural settings.

Sheila Kim -- Interior Design, 10/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

The client couple, seeking a serene refuge from their hectic lifestyle (the wife is a busy university professor plagued by book and paper clutter), looked to their small, closed-off master bedroom and bath as a potential haven.

Architect Louise Braverman resolved the issue by seemingly fusing the 85-sq.-ft. master bath with the bedroom. Sliding glass doors take the place of walls to create fluidity between the two spaces, thereby allowing the couple to leave the space as open as they like. Since the bedroom had an uninterrupted view into the bath, the architect installed a cylindrical, freestanding shower with the structure's backside facing the bedroom to appear as an aesthetic object in space.

Braverman treated the couple's guest bath in the same manner by creating a stainless-steel, "sculptural" base for the sink, with a tile backsplash that appears like a trompe l'oeil shadow of the base. A simple ceramic basin sink tops the base, contributing to the peaceful and poetic atmosphere that the clients desired.