Skip to main content

Luxury Washroom Design Challenge Entry


Few months back my boss forwarded an email to me which was a usual competition email with instructions to guide the interns to execute it. I never had an idea that I'll be more than delighted to see that it was rather an individual competition and only an architect with the license to practice can participate in it. I never thought that I would actually participate and submit it and it won't be just another 'to do' on my list until the last day of submission. This was a breath of fresh air, where I had no boundaries- no client to tell what exactly to do, no developer to impose all the monetary limitations and no government by-laws to follow. This was not something where I was supposed to give shape to the ideas of my boss, but rather put all the wisdom and knowledge gained under him and this firm and design something entirely on my own. It was also different from the college competitions, where I can't just paint unicorns in the sky, but look for a tool to create unicorn impressions in the real sky and think of a way to keep it that way, or in simpler words, it has to be executable!

While doing it I kept the thought of winning aside (I wasn't expecting it at all) and instead gave my 100 percent. Kept it simple,clean and classy.

Below is my entry to the Cera Washrooms and Beyond Design challenge for luxury washrooms that made me win second prize in the National round held at Taj Santacruz, Mumbai.


Introducing the Wellness Room

It’s not a Washroom, it’s an Experience.

It was only five years back that the washroom was treated as one of the most insignificant rooms- an area with a bath, shower, washbasin and a water closet. But today washrooms have evolved to be one of the most crucial habitat area. From being the last room to be designed and worked upon to becoming one of the first spaces that people look into converting into a complete wellness zone. As people are becoming busier in their day to day life, urban consumers are going beyond spas and gyms to destress and rejuvenate. Washrooms are becoming extensions of people's living spaces with shower enclosures, whirlpools, steam and other wellness installations.

A washroom or a “wellness room”, as it should be rightly called, is also the place where we spend the most creative minutes of our day. It is a surprising fact where most professionals find their source of daily inspiration. Yes. It is this wellness room. 
Why? Because a relaxed state of mind is absolutely important to be creative. It is scientifically proven, if you are in a relaxed state of mind,easy to distract and full of dopamine, your brain is most likely to give you your best, most creative ideas, which is easily achievable in a shower.

A room that gives you back so much does a 9x5 area suffice? The time spent in the washroom is probably the only time when we are just alone with ourselves and our thoughts. It cannot be just a space with a shower, a wash basin and a toilet, it has to be more, it has to be a space of incredible luxury! It has to be a personalised spa, a thinking room, an idea room and lot more. The wellness room is a space where you interact with yourself and you alone and sometimes share it with your partner, forced to be away from your mobiles and social media. In today’s world it is the only space left dedicated to privacy. So why make it so small and ordinary?

The design presented here is for a hypothetical client who is a very successful author or a creative head in a magazine. She needs a wellness room that has openness, luxury and personal space that let her ideas surface. The design requirement is for her 18th floor, pent house apartment in the city as well as for her holiday home in the hills where she loves to spend the weekends. The two designs are relatable and one is the extension of the other.

The idea is to create a minimalistic yet luxurious design with a feeling of openness-using open to sky areas and light-coloured walls with a hint of colour here and there. Spaces are created for the client to relax and heal the mind and body, spend time reading, thinking and relaxing, other than enjoying long hours in bubble baths with scented candles around.
LEGEND-corresponds to the numbers in the jpeg files.
  1. The City Wellness room
    1. Vanity
    2. Wash Basins
    3. Water Closet
    4. Jacuzzi/Bath tub
    5. Wall Painting
    6. Bamboo trees
    7. Water body
    8. Bridge
    9. Book shelf- Covered
    10. Lounger
    11. Weeping Feature Wall Fountain
    12. Shower area
    13. Full length back-lit mirror
    14. Pergola covered with lexan sheet

  1. The Hillside Wellness room
    1. Full height window with part jaali
    2. Bench with cushions
    3. Unenclosed Shower area
    4. Wash basins
    5. Cantilevered Steps with anti-skid rubber mats leading to the mezzanine floor
    6. Balcony decks
    7. Swimming pool 30’x10’
    8. Water closet
    9. Bath tub/Jacuzzi
    10. Fixed glass window on sloped roof
    11. Lounger/pedicure chair
    12. Glass door with top and side support






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is architecture really a social responsibility?

 'as architects our goodness is more important than our greatness and our compassion more eventful than our passion.'  Like most people, I am guilty to attend seminars and conferences and accept invitations lured by the hotel where it is organised and the cocktails and dinner that follows. More often than not the conferences are only ways to meet new vendors, materials and are rather boring to be honest. But sometimes… just sometimes... it gives you back much more than what you expect. It forces you to ponder the untouched philosophies of life that have always existed around you without it being realized.Think about something that is so simple, so basic but neglected. I happened to be in one such conferences last night where it somewhere intensely touched my soul. I only hope that the chords it hit so deep within me should rather not fade away any sooner and that is why I thought of writing about it. After all this was my purpose when I started writing blogs. Though I am...
1 comment
Read more

Boss Homes-Part-1

A house is made of walls and beams. A house is made of love and dreams. If I ask, what would you rather design- a private residence or an apartment for a developer, what would be your answer? Do leave a comment at the end of this post.  I remember my conversation with Mr. Gupta one afternoon, for whom we are designing a commercial cum residential building at one of the most prestigious spots in the city. I have sat with him for hours, session after session, discussing each of the floors, commercial and residential, decoding his requirements. The most detailed discussion which lasted for a couple of hours was his floor, which he decided to convert into his own home. In the middle of the conversation he said to me, ’I know I am elaborating each and every aspect of this plan, only because it’s going to be my home and I have given a lot of thought to it, so please bear with me’. I instantly realised that I have not enjoyed discussing any of the other floors as much as this fl...
Post a Comment
Read more