Snapshot aspects

Large picture windows will certainly make the most of your outlook, but they can compromise privacy.

However, it is possible to have the best of both worlds, as this bathroom illustrates. When architect Dale Jones-Evans converted an old warehouse into three apartments, he decided to retain the large round windows in the front fae§ade of the building, and add a full-height square window as well.

In the largest apartment, the bedrooms and master bathroom are on the top level of the building behind the fae§ade, overlooking both a park and an internal courtyard. Because of this, neither the bedroom nor the bathroom is exposed to public view.

Natural light floods the ensuite, courtesy of these two windows. The circular window overlooking the park is fixed while the large, square window mounted on a pivot faces directly into the internal courtyard.

"We deliberately darkened the inside of the bathroom by using black tiles and dark finishes on the walls and floor," says Jones-Evans.

"The effect of the light change is much the same as if you were looking through the aperture of a camera. When you look from a dark space to a lighter space, the view outside registers more strongly. The aspects through the windows could easily be two paintings on the dark walls.

"The attenuated light also makes the bathroom softer on the eye and more comfortable to be in," he says.

The mirrored wall above the vanity provides another illusion in the bathroom. To maintain a sense of space, the two square, white handbasins are wall-mounted against a tiled splashback below the mirror. Two storage cabinets appear to float in front of this glass, adding visual depth to the bathroom.

Across the room, the bath is a tiled extension of the walls, and is partially sunken to sit level with a courtyard on the other side of a square glazed wall.

"When bathing, you feel as if you are in the internal courtyard," says Jones-Evans.

Story by: Trendsideas