Treehouse Bathroom

Mark Gacesa of Ultraspace has completely reimagined the concept of a master suite for this holiday home. The property consists of two dwellings which allowed Mark the ability to sacrifice two of bedrooms on the existing upper level of the first home to create a spacious master suite with interconnecting ensuite and walk-in robe.

When designing the ensuite, Mark and the team needed to be mindful of the existing plumbing – but push limits of possibility and practicality with regards to the new layout positioning. The huge curved double shower was able to be positioned directly behind the custom bedroom suite and (at head-height) create a curved ‘gun-slot’ viewport through to the ocean using a special plexiglass with Corian^® sills. The curved wall was clad in Travertine finger tiles both internally and externally and the space is illuminated with vertical runs of coved LED diffused extrusions with dimmable and submersible strip at various lengths set perfectly into the depth, width and length of the finger tiles. The curved walls and existing raked ceilings added an extra level of difficulty for the expert tiler.

The vanity and oval-ended vanity wall (also in Travertine finger tiles) creates the back of the walk-in double shower which is flanked by reeded glass panels and a custom floor-standing towel rail – which doubles as stiffening for the glazing. The vanity itself is a work of art with all the vertical faces of the thermoformed sides, drawers and top created with finely fluted Corian^® with the Corian^® basins and top molding into one. There are horizontal breaks in timber grain laminate with rebated sweeps that create areas for hand-pulls. The large oval mirrors with raised timber grain surrounds hinge open to reveal extra deep storage.

“My client is an absolute enjoyer and connoisseur of ‘bath-time’ – so we had to nail this one thing in particular – and we did. After we selected the perfect shaped tub (many months of visiting suppliers and test-driving) – the creative began. I wanted to create a feeling that the entire ensuite is a balcony that opens up to the ocean views under and through the surrounding trees. We were able to open up between two of the vertical portal frames to create a 4m wide window that – at the press of a button – could disappear upward into a cavity to leave the lower section of glass as the balustrade. This lower section of glass is frosted for complete privacy until fully in the bath – when at the touch of a button – the glass un-frosts and my client has un uninterrupted view through to the ocean. There is also a fully automated concealed roller blind for full privacy.” said Mark Gacesa.

The bath itself is housed within a Corian^® platform (or hob) with aluminium channel shadow detail to the verticals of Travertine finger tiles and illuminated kick. The bath wall is also Corian^® with an illuminated recessed section for extra space whilst seated in the bath – this recess is also finely fluted Corian^® with an adjustable and dimmable (low voltage) reading light at the head end of the bath. On top of the bath wall is a piece of custom Corian^® art consisting of oval shapes reflecting both the oval mirrors and the custom oval and splayed Corian^® door and drawer pulls that are throughout the project. This Corian^® art acts as a transparent room divider between the ensuite and the robe and is illuminated by a custom Corian^® lightbox at the ceiling.

Behind the bath wall is a custom drawer unit consisting of a ‘floating’ Corian^® top and reeded Polytec Calcutta 10 drawer faces in timber grain with Corian^® beading to all edges and custom oval and splayed Corian^® drawer pulls. This design is flowed through into the Master Bedroom.