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This bathroom renovation blends heritage elements with modern function – featuring handmade tiles, a one-off vanity and a focus on accessibility

Designed by Kate Gardham, Suede + Stone

From the designer:

The context

This home was originally designed by John Lewis, one of a number of homes he designed along the street for the whole family, which meant the children could run easily from one home to another to play with their cousins. 

A unique designer, Lewis introduced little quirks into all of these family homes. 

When the original family passed on, a second generation of homeowners moved into this beautiful architectural residence, which curves around a private garden with a waterfall – right in the heart of Epsom.

The bathroom

The original ensuite bathroom had purple carpet and wall tiles – it was very dark and the carpet hadn’t aged well in this wet area.

We closed off the existing toilet area to make a separate powder room for guests and then created a new opening off the hallway as the owners wanted dual access as their children and grandchildren come to stay frequently which meant there would always be a toilet available for their large family gatherings.  

The original bath was removed to allow for this additional toilet that was then incorporated into the ensuite bathroom. 

There was no need for a second bath as they already had one in the main bathroom for the younger grandchildren.


The owners had previously lived in Thailand for a period of time and had collected a lot of beautiful, hand-crafted artisan pieces that they brought back to New Zealand with them. 

This was not to be your everyday, ordinary bathroom renovation, but rather something that was quite individual and special to them and that reflected the foundations John Lewis had set in those early days.

Everything has been selected to have an authenticity of materiality and a textural component. 

The handmade tiles from Zelige Tiles of Ezera have an uneven surface due to the hand made process and the colour variation of the tiles is in itself artful.

Another example of this authenticity of materiality is the beautiful hand-crafted furniture piece that I saw and immediately knew I wanted to use this as a vanity. 

The paint work of this vanity has a patina in the celadon tones (a pale blue-green with gray and jade undertones), giving it a rustic charm, adding character to the ensuite and by extension the home.

Plus, the bathroom had needed  a longer vanity for storage as well as it being in keeping with their existing hand-crafted furniture and unique style. 

One of the owners who had previously owned the original home had been a well-known lighting designer and so his lights were freshened up and rewired to use either side of the mirror. 

The mirror itself is beautiful antique that I found sifting through their treasures – it paired well with the aged vanity. 

I love that this house is infused with history and character that is meaningful to my homeowners.

To contribute to a lightness to the space, organic and rusticated finishes in light muted colours were selected.

We wanted to maintain what little natural light we had coming in through the glass brick wall / high widow and because this was a structural wall, this formed the design setting to marry in this permanent detail. 

The brick lay pattern for the tiles was decided upon for connectivity to the door fronts of the vanity and the glass brick windows above. 

The light dapples across the tiles, showing the beauty in the imperfection and variation in colours – you can see this here in the tiles on the shower feature walls.

The introduced shower niches mean the owners now have storage for their body wash, shampoos etc. 

Plus, the shower niche has a recessed strip light for ambience when showering and is a generous in size with this walk in style.

A raised ramp was used for the entrance to the shower so that the homeowners can walk in easily with or without the aid of walker frames – we were future proofing as they are in their 70s. 

Ideally, we would have liked to have it all one level, but with the floor being a structurally engineered element we had to overcome this by creating this slightly raised ramp – which we thought would be easier for them than the alternative of lifting a walker up over a raised step.

Challenges

The glass brick wall / windows were part of a structural retaining wall and the floor was also part of this structural element so we were limited to the existing plumbing positions. 

We had to build a false wall out to hide new plumbing inside, as we could not compromise the engineering and structural elements of the home. 

This back wall is also a retaining wall backing onto many properties situated above.

Credit list

Basin
Stone, from Artedomus
Shower stall
Crest Showers
Accessories
Antique mirror, owner's own
Paint
Porters Paint Popcorn
Ventilation
Schweigen Repose Silent Bathroom Fan
Underfloor heating
Supplied by builder
Awards
Trends International Design Awards (TIDA) Bathrooms – Highly Commended
Vanity
Furniture piece from The Importer in Mt Maunganui – purchased with the idea of repurposing into a vanity
Taps / shower fittings
Buddy Progetto, in Aged Iron, from The Kitchen Hub
Toilet
Waterware Boston, back-to-wall, matt white
Wall tiles
Tiles of Ezera, hand made, Bejmat Duck Egg Blue
Lighting
Vintage wall lights, from owner
Flooring
Travertine natural stone, from Artedomus
Styling and accessories
Suede + Stone
Photography
Mitch Brown

Helpful links

Windows and Doors
Cabinetry Hardware
Home Builder
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