Remuera Bathroom

Despite its compact footprint and southern orientation, this Auckland bathroom boasted a generously tall wall of windows imbuing beautiful daylight. The clients requested a fresh, calm and monolithic design that reflected elements of their architect-designed mid-century home – “Create interest and imbue with ’soul’, they prescribed; “Nothing off-the-shelf looking”. The bathroom needed to consider the dual purpose of performing practically for the family, a teenage daughter especially, while expressing a contemporary vibe for visiting guests. Enamored with the non-porous and easy-clean nature enjoyed in her recently completed Corian^® kitchen, the clients were keen to use it again in their bathroom also.

The crisp stylish aesthetic was an easy choice for Toni Roberts of Kitchen Architecture (NZ) as it allows the form to triumph – in this case the geometric 3D wall tiles and the subtle curve falling off the floating vanity to the bath below. This design was driven by the need to maximize bench area for their make-up using teenager. With the bathroom being on the colder side of the house, we were both impressed with the softness, physical warmth and gentle acoustics Corian^® achieved, which a fully tiled bathroom would not have.

Specifying Corian^® allowed a strong monolithic construction for a sense of continuity; it’s both visually streamlined and practically gives a water-sealed junction between the bath and shower. Internal corners are finger-sealed in Corian^® avoiding the impossible internal square edges where mould could develop.
The malleable and solid colour-through properties of Corian^® enabled freedom to incorporate the gentle quarter-round design detail in the vanity top.

Being the teen daughter’s bathroom, Toni knew it would need to be tough. Familiar with its durability, we selected Corian^® in confidence knowing it would handle the oily mixtures of make-up, creams and sprays. Its non-porous properties certainly deliver an easy-to-clean surface.

“An architect-designed Auckland home of the 70’s formed the framework when it came to renovating a bathroom within its existing compact footprint. Utilising Corian^® surfaces throughout, the light-filled bathroom delivers a fresh but calm monolithic design “imbued with soul” while functioning on a practical level as an easy-clean, seamlessly sealed unit. Its modern aesthetic is befitting of the home’s mid-century design language. Having recently designed their second new kitchen, again with Corian^® tops, they had a few specific requests when it came to the materials – one of which was to utilise Corian^® for its non-porous, silicon-free and easy-to-clean features. Glacier White features on the floating vanity top which appears to fall off to the bath surround, which subsequently seamlessly flows through into the shower space. The warm Rimu veneer touches reference timber panelling found throughout the home and star-shaped tap handles were sourced from Hansgrohe to echo the star-like diamond pattern of the wall tiles. The beautifully rounded curves of the tap spouts, by contrast, follow our curving motifs elsewhere. It’s the illusion of spaciousness and the calm yet striking arrangement of textures that are favourite aspects of the final result. “Glacier White” Corian^® forms the fresh, calm and monochromatic foundation with its practical features that make this bathroom a dream to use and be in.” said Toni Roberts.