Daring and sublime
Captivating bathrooms with deep colours and bold patterns
The bathrooms of 2021 have been designed to transport our lockdown-weary minds into the fanciful realms of nature and the unknown. From a shower room open to the sky at Lindfield House by Arent and Pyke with Polly Harbison Design (page 60) to the dark, brooding, cavernous bathrooms of SRG House by Fox Johnston (page 82), these spaces welcome the daring and the sublime. Big bathtubs thrust into the garden at Las Palmas, Byron by Duo Architects in association with Davis Architects (page 114) and looking out over rooftops at Toowong Lighthouse by Alcorn Middleton (page 130) draw settings of nature and urbanity into the intimate spaces of the bathroom.
To heighten the immersive quality of bathing, the bathrooms in this collection embrace tactility, chromatic spectacle and natural light. The handmade touches of timber joinery, cast concrete basins and organically cut mirrors sustain sensory-seeking minds and fingertips. Jewelled tones in sapphire and emerald reference the colours of the ocean and forest. Glazed tiles applied like wallpaper bring watercolour washes and patterns to bathrooms, while finger mosaic tiles, a favourite format, are applied to walls and floors with unrelenting repetition. While some bathrooms are saturated with tactile and chromatic intensity, in the very same house another bathroom may be a place of neutrality and calm, demonstrated at Balmoral Blue House by Esoteriko (page 46).
The most daring and dramatic bathrooms of 2021 pursue a single material, colour or concept with unapologetic intensity – for example, SRG House by Fox Johnston (page 82), the blue bathroom at Balmoral Blue House by Esoteriko (page 46), and the outdoor shower at Lindfield House by Arent and Pyke with Polly Harbison Design (page 60). The results are emotionally charged spaces characterized by sensory-intensive, atmospheric moods.
To heighten the immersive quality of bathing, these bathrooms embrace tactility, chromatic spectacle and natural light.
01 The outside shower
It’s quite impossible for human-made settings to match the majesty of nature. This is why the outdoor shower room at Lindfield House by Arent and Pyke with Polly Harbison Design (pictured and page 60) seems like a perfectly natural progression of the shower experience. The owners talk of the invigorating contrast of hot water and crisp, outside air layered with the visual spectacle of a fiery sky at sunset. The shower room at Orient Street House by Philip Stejskal Architecture (page 68), while inside the house, is designed to replicate the experience of showering outside – with views opening out across the garden and suburb from the elevated corner of the house.
02 Deep, tiled tubs
The bathtub at Dune House by Ohlo Studio with Simon Pendal Architect (pictured and page 122) appears dipped in delectable caramel, with tumbled mosaic tiles evoking a sense of nostalgia for the ancient Roman bath. Meanwhile, the deep tub at Las Palmas, Byron by Duo Architects in association with Davis Architects (page 114), formed entirely from finger mosaic tiles, recedes into the garden framed by the adjacent window. Both of these tiled bathtubs appear to be carved from clay or sculpted in sand. In these tubs, the bather is embraced by water while feeling grounded by the earth.
03 Many surfaces, one shade
At SRG House by Fox Johnston (page 82), walls and benches in bathrooms and ensuite are lined in red Japanese finger mosaics. The architect’s dedication to this singular colour application creates a supercharged, emotional atmosphere. As these spaces are thrown into shadow, a cavelike quality descends on these bathrooms, and the sensory impact is powerful. On the opposite side of the colour spectrum, the blue bathroom at Balmoral Blue House by Esoteriko (pictured and page 46) reverberates deep azure across multiple materials, including tiles, cabinetry and basin, to recall the feeling of a deep ocean plunge.
04 Custom-colour basins
Colour-through basins, cast in concrete, bring bespoke pigments and textured surfaces to bathrooms in 2021. The custom green pigment colouring the concrete “troughs” inside Bulimba Hill House by Hive Architecture (pictured and page 106) draws cool green shades from other rooms into the bathroom. In the bathrooms of Las Palmas, Byron by Duo Architects in association with Davis Architects (page 114), concrete basins in warm grey tones perfectly pair with timber cabinetry and natural textures.
05 Integrated, artful mirrors
Artful mirrors bring a subtle, sculptural quality to small spaces. A beautiful example is the powder room at Balmoral Blue House by Esoteriko (pictured and page 46), where taps and faucet emerge from a floor-to-ceiling mirror and flow into a freestanding pedestal basin. At Lindfield House by Arent and Pyke with Polly Harbison Design (page 60), the custom bathroom mirror is framed to integrate hand pulls corresponding to the different heights of the clients.
06 Pop art patterns and colour sampling
Fun and vibrancy have been brought to us in interesting ways this year, with tile patterns and complementary or contrasting colour palettes creating pop-art-inspired bathrooms. The powder room inside Toorak House by Melanie Beynon Architecture and Design (page 38) packs a punch with an exuberant combination of strong geometric patterned tiles and pink walls. In the ensuite of Toowong Lighthouse by Alcorn Middleton (pictured and page 130), white tiles in various sizes are layered to create a sense of depth and pattern. These tiles contrast with indigo walls and ceilings, and floors laid with pale blue, large-format tiles. Circular motifs introduced in the mirror and wall light bring further contrast to the square-format tiles.