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A sculptured bathtub takes pride of place in this master bedroom.

If a bathtub is more akin to a work of art than a piece of utility furniture, why hide it away in a master ensuite?

This ivory bathtub for instance, is made from crushed almond shells. Rather than sitting in the bathroom, it has taken up residence in the master bedroom of a house designed by Glenn Holmes, of Design Department.

“The homeowners are parents to three lively children and their master suite is their sanctuary. Enjoying a bath at the end of the day is one of those indulgences that they couldn’t bear to consign to a small ensuite bathroom,” he says.

Elevated on a teak platform, the bath is positioned directly opposite the bed. From its curvaceous form, the bather has a view out the window that takes in Sydney’s middle hard our.

The teak platform serves a number of purposes. Practically, it ensures the carpet isn’t destroyed by bath water- there is a stainless steel tray beneath the tub to collect water that is easily accessible for cleaning. Aesthetically, the teak platform evokes a nautical theme that is prevalent throughout the home’s interior design.

Behind the tub, the walls are painted white to provide a blank canvas for artwork and to offer a light backdrop for the bathtub during the day.

“It’s about providing a bathing experience that includes a stunning view- a comfortable place to soak where you can either relax or converse with your partner without interruption,” Holmes says.

To complete the picture, the bedroom is fitted with a state-of-the-art sound system.

The separate ensuite is reserved for daily cleansing rituals and includes a shower and toilet. Twin basins are separated by a central pedestal, which houses linen and toiletries.

The porcelain bowl and timber vanities echo the bathtub and platform in the bathroom. The tumbled marble floor has the same dept and variety as the bedroom carpet, but is a more practical surface for a bathroom floor.

The interesting point about this complex is that the building’s podium designed as a green outdoor area. Besides the fact that it reduces the heat ( compares to a concrete podium ), it is indeed a clever trick to give a sense of touching the ground to owners of the upper units, not to mention the tennis court and swimming pool around main tower.

These facilities provide unique sensation to the users. However, an open tennis court in a hot climate of Jakarta must be carefully handled with care, especially for such an exclusive apartment like this one.

The European classical style in this complex is another thing to be reconsidered seriously due to its grandeur scale and sophisticated detail that must be employed throughout the building. There are some efforts to come into term with such demands ad shown in the detail design of pedestrian paving. Hopefully, this intricacy will be consistently maintained until the completion in 2006.

Rustic charm mixes with contemporary flair in the bathrooms of this

new house, which was built with materials from an old barn

Nostalgia is not just a fond remembrance of times gone by- it can also influence many of the decisions we make, including the way we choose to live.

One of the owners of the home featured here, architect Richard Landry, grey up in the Quebec countryside and retains a love of traditional farm buildings. Given the opportunity to acquire an old barn, he says he jumped at the chance, shipping the building in pieces to Los Angeles.

To day, the barn is resurrected within a new dwelling where rustic beams and cladding sit a long side more contemporary design elements.

“It was never our intention to re-create the original barn,” says Landry. “Rather, we wanted to use it in a contemporary context, re- using the wood as accents within the house.”

For example, Landry and co-owner Robert Carrola used cladding from the barn for interior doors and to create the wall behind the bed in the master bedroom, where the juxtaposition of styles is just as noticeable.

“The wood is in its original, unfinished state,” says Landry. “It is also used for columns in the wardrobe and dressing room.”

The master bedroom adjoins one of two large sheet-metal silos positioned at either end of the house. These circular structures accommodate the bathrooms.

Rustic beams also crisscross the ceiling of the bedroom and master bathroom. Other raw materials include split-face concrete block walls and unfinished steel, which has been left to develop its own patina.

“Leaving the structural elements and the ducting exposed is a rather contemporary gesture,” says Landry.

A modern look is also provided by the soff it ceiling that appears to float above the bed. This features down lights and subtle cove lighting.

In the master bathroom, an antique oak wine barrel has been made into a cabinet and is paired with a pedestal basins and claw – foot bath. The colour full marble flooring slabs were book-matched so the joints cannot be seen.

A separate steam shower room beside the gym has a more modern feel, with a glass basin and granite seating.

Natural materials come to the fore again in the powder room, which features a large block of granite, carved and polished to create a basin. This is supported by rustic wood column.

A window in this bathroom opens onto a small, trellised garden,

ushering in sunlight and helping to create a sense of space

Here are few things more revitalizing than taking a shower under the sun or beneath the stars. But welcoming in nature –with- out compromising privacy- is challenge when designing a small bathroom that is overlooked by neighbouring houses.

In the bathroom featured here, architect Thomas Tow of Tow Francis Architecture+ Urban Design has made full use of the natural light that shines through the window. Behind the glass is a custom- built planter box enclosed in a wooden trellis. The trellis is placed upside down so that its stats are positioned upwards. This means anyone using the shower can view the sky but not be seen from the outside, says Tow.

“The trellis screens out the neighbours without compromising the natural light. When the window is open, it makes the bathroom appears much larger than it actually.”

To ensure this small bathroom didn’t seem claustrophobic or appear cluttered, a limited palette of natural materials has been used.

“The client wanted the look and atmosphere of a mountain spa. We chose stone tiling for the walls and floor, complemented by wooden framing around the mirrors,” Tow says.

The quartzite stone tiles were cut to a size of 300 x 300m. Although stone is a heavy material, the tiles have adds to the feeling of being in a tropical resort, says Tow.

By placing a mirror above the basin and mirrors along the wall opposite the window, the bathroom appears to double in size. Behind these mirrors are his and her cabinets. A shelf buit into the stone tiled wall below the cabinets houses the towels.

The basin is a single, sculptural piece that has been mounted onto the wall. The mirrored cabinets and the linen cupboard above the toilet eliminate the need for vanity cabinets below the basin.

“To keep the design simple, every fitting and piece of furniture has a purpose,” says Tow.

Separating the shower and toilet is a glass screen, stretching halfway across the shower area.

“No door has been installed because none was required- the glass screen is enough to contain the water inside the shower,” he says.

The sunken shower floor is reminiscent of Japanese design and adds a certain exotic appeal.

“Lowering the floor heightens the shower experience. The person using the shower feels utterly enclosed in the space,” says Tow.

The housing problem is something which always rears its ugly head in this modern era,

And the increasingly limited space to be turned into residential areas is only adding to

the predicament. However the recent development of vertical villages, or more commonly known as apartments, might just be the answer. Of course it doesn’t mean that the existence of apartments in large cities will completely eradicate the housing problem in the areas. On the contrary, they can sometimes pose other dilemmas such as the uncomfortable feeling of being ‘trapped’ in a limited space inside an apartment or the fear of global warming as a result of the green house effect caused by glass-front high rise buildings. There are also concerns about lack of open green areas in the vicinity of the apartment buildings. Bearing these in mind, PT.Bakrieland Development Tbk is introducing its latest offering in the residential market, ‘The Wave,’ which is a part of the Rasuna Epicentrum development.

This apartment block consists of a vertical housing complex which is fully integrated with other existing in the locality and incorporates an eco-friendly design. Employing the green architecture concept, The Wave showcases a comfortable pedestrian circulation along with vast green areas throughout the compound at its crowning feature. This pedestrian circulation also functions as an open area which links other blocks in the compound. The design is chosen to prevent the common segregated feeling seen in many superblock projects in the greater Jakarta where each block appears to stand alone without any link to other blocks. This tends to result in haphazard pedestrian lanes, something which is hoped to be avoided in The Wave apartments.

Set on an area of 3.5 ha, The Wave Rasuna Epicentrum is a part of Rasuna Epicentrum superblock. In line with the green architecture concept of the building, 70% of the available site is deliberately turned into open green spaces which function as a pedestrian area, a park, and a public circulation lane complete with various supporting facilities, such as lighting. Smooth transition is evident in the integration of its architectural shapes. The pedestrian area which leads to various places in the compound is designed to be comfortable and safe for the occupants to use. In addition, the apartment’s eco-friendly design highlights its humanistic approach to improve the quality of life for its tenants by enabling an efficient a well as optimum interaction between them.

The shapes of The Wave’s facades are obtained from the architectural analysis of drop off circulation, main circulation, human circulation, open areas, people’s attitude of their natural surroundings, as well as the site contour. This analysis results in the construction of 2 blocks, with the rear block built as high rise building while the front takes the form of a low rise building. This arrangement provides a wider and clearer view of the surrounding areas from all apartment units. One major selling point of The Wave is its array of wide open spaces planted with lush greeneries that bridge part of the compound. This connectedness helps make the public spaces appear as an entity. Another plus point here is the rood top garden at the crown of the low rise apartment which functions as the first   podium where occupants can socialize or conduct other outdoor activities. The