Projects: Kitchen & Bath

Deborah Wilk -- Interior Design, 12/1/2011 2:00:00 AM

Winner: Slade Architecture
Project: Apartment
Location: New York

If you ask married principals Hayes and James Slade to explain this winning concept, their answer is: "Tile World! This is what the world will look like if tile ever takes over." Indeed, the 50-square-foot guest bathroom, nearly academic in its rigor, demonstrates how 6-inch-square white tile can cover virtually every surface. The Slades conceived the squares as a graph-paper grid that could be pushed and pulled into different dimensions by the shapes of the tub surround, the vanity, niches, a lighting cove, and even a closet. In a playful departure from the standard white tile, the wall behind the tub features the absolutely perfect product by JSPR: a black ceramic square molded to simulate plumbing pipe beneath the surface. The snaking form that resulted gives the impression that the water falling from the rain shower has taken a humorously indirect route. 

Merit: Vermeulen Hind Architects
Project: House, Mulmur
Location: Ontario

At a weekend home, minimal cabinetry and sleek appliances make the kitchen appear to float inside a framework of reclaimed 160-year-old timbers.

Merit: Jessica Helgerson Interior Design
Project: Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade
Location: Portland, Oregon

From the most classic of classic arcade games, to-the-pixel accurate Pac-Man characters are rendered in 1-inch-square ceramic tile on restroom floors.

Merit: Sand Studios
Project: Apartment
Location: Miami Beach

The master bathroom's walnut cabinetry and doors set off the walls and flooring of Italian statuary marble.