A bath doesn’t necessarily have to be big to seem big, especially if the designer uses materials with some immaterial properties that create the illusion of spaciousness. “When you can read through a surface, it has a multilayered effect,” says architect Charles Cunniffe about the benefits of translucent vanities. “It lets one space flow into another without interruption and allows light to permeate a room.”
Cunniffe selected natural glass for the master bath in this recently built home in Park City, Utah. The glass’s aqua tint blends with the playful but consistent color palette found in the adjacent master bedroom and throughout the home. A contemporary custom vanity holds a matching glass basin that drops below the surface to emphasize the fluidity of glass. Opposite the vanity, a single piece of curved glass forms the walk-in shower so no part of room is dark or confined.
To open up a 5-by-7-foot bathroom in their house, architects Teresa Rosano and Luis Ibarra sanded a 4-foot-long sheet of 1-inch-thick clear acrylic and anchored it to the wall as a luminous vanity. A wall-mounted faucet allows the opalescent surface to maintain a slim 18-inch-deep profile. “The cantilevered counter lets your eye see the floor space, and its translucency lets light through to make the space feel bigger,” says Rosano. Stains or scratches merely require re-sanding to restore an unblemished sheen. Mosaic glass tile lining the walls and a full-length mirror also boost visual roominess. The couple does admit to adding footage—15 square feet to be exact. They punched out a window to pop out a bay for the shower. The same sanded acrylic forms three walls so the shower glows internally during the day and externally at night.
