Outside the Box

Enjoying a summer breeze while soaking in the tub, staring at clear blue sky while lingering in the shower—the sensation of bathing outside can transform a routine task into a sybaritic escape. And custom baths are the newest place to enjoy the indoor/ outdoor experience.

The extreme temperatures of Palm Desert, Calif., may not seem ideal for an indoor/outdoor bathroom (this page, top), but Jay Reynolds risked his architectural reputation as well as familial relationships to prove otherwise. “How to bring light and air inside without heat gain,” was the big question Reynolds answered when designing the guest bath in his parents’ home. An exaggerated roof overhang takes care of direct shading, but Reynolds’ design goes beyond the obvious. The bathroom wall steps out from the house just enough to squeeze in a sunken shower (this page, bottom). By continuing the white laminated glass wall past a frameless door uniting shower with courtyard, Reynolds also protects the opening from sideways rays and glances. He gained a thermal advantage by encasing the shower in limestone, which gets cold at night and stays cool throughout the day. Along with dark stone, the shower’s step-down entry and slightly slimmer proportions produce a “cocoon-like feeling” that offsets the outdoor exposure, Reynolds says. “The smaller dimensions keep it safer-feeling and a little warmer,” adds the architect and most frequent bather, but the open tunnel entry also captures “some brisk winds that definitely wake you up.”

Kurt Mitchell, a Honolulu-based architect who designs with indoor/outdoor relationships in mind, says the key to baths that successfully step outside is in the transition. He suggests using physical and visual layers that maintain interior privacy while offering direct exposure to nature. Mitchell mixes clear and sandblasted glass on the inside and uses landscape walls and plantings outside to balance function with atmosphere. “This way bathing can be as intimate as it needs to be for comfort,” he explains, “but as expansive as it can be for an outdoor experience.”

Builder/Architect: OJMR Architects, Los Angeles Photo: Ciro Coelho Builder/Architect: OJMR Architects, Los Angeles Photo: Ciro Coelho For a seaside home on Maui, Mitchell used custom sliding windows framed in mahogany around every tub. In the guest bathroom (page 38, left photo) the opening is particularly effective in transporting the lucky soaker. “When you climb up into the tub you really feel like you’re outside because the window wall is right there,” says the architect. Clerestory windows add softly waving palm fronds to the view. The adjacent shower opens directly to its outdoor twin, where a freestanding wall of local coral stone screens bathers from view while they breathe in the scent of orchids mingled with sea air. “Using natural woods and stone inside helps make the experience as authentic as possible,” Mitchell adds.

A house doesn’t have to be in the tropics to benefit from an indoor/outdoor bath. A first-time homeowner in Northern California wanted to take long soaks while fully experiencing her hillside environment. Architect Michael Harris provided a bathroom (above right, top and bottom) that lets her do just that. A full-light glass door is centered on the tub and flanked by fixed windows for nearly wall-to-wall glazing. Transoms extend sightlines to the top of the tree that shades the terrace. Recessed into the length of the room, the transparent wall generates a discreet alcove off the private side of the patio for an outdoor shower. As for prying eyes, Harris says, “you’re on this steep hillside with no close neighbors,” so showering or soaking al fresco is no problem.