Bathroom design basics.

Essentially there are three quesions to ask yourself at the beginning of the design process:

1. What do I want to achieve with my new bathroom?

2. Where are the various elements going to go?

3. How are they all going to function? (And how much will it all cost?)

Let's consider each one in turn.

Firstly your aims and intents for the new bathroom will depend very much on who is going to use it. For example a bathroom in a bachelor pad will have a different requirement to a bathroom in a family home, so the elements you wish to include will depend on how and by whom the bathroom will be used. Do you want a shower, a bath or both? Do you want the toilet in the bathroom or have you a seperate room? Do you want to include a bidet? What about the wash basin, do you want one or two? Do you have any special needs for a disabled person? Where will you store your towels, soap, shampoos and all the other bathroom essentials? How will you heat and illuminate the room?

When you have some idea of your aims, then you can consider where things might go.

For most of us space is at a premium, the average UK bathroom measures about 2000x1600mm and leaves few options for repositioning elements, but the illusion of space can be created by choosing the most suitable fittings. If you have the luxury of space then you need to think about where the various fittings are to go. There may be constraints due to plumbing requirements, many of which can be overcome but often at a high cost. Your thoughts here need to balanced against your budget as some alterations can push the cost beyond your comfort zone.

As well as the practicalities, the asthetics of your layout need to be considered and how your preferred fittings will look in the planned locations. The relationship between the different fittings in terms of use needs to balance your style requirements, and your choice and location of different surfae textures and colours will have a huge effect on the character of your finished bathroom.

The next consideration is how does it all work?

This means not just how does it work from a plumbing perspective, but how does it work from a practical perspective. Are the ergonomics of the finished design good? For example, there is little point in having a shower enclosure if the toilet blocks the door into it. Is there enough room to sit on the toilet? Can you stand at the basin and step back without falling into the bath? These might seem silly questions, but it is surprising how many times even professional designers can make simple errors of judgement.

Finally you will need to have a realistic idea of what the costs are likely to be. It is simple to exactly price the fittings, tiles etc, but the installation costs are more difficult to assess, as the full extent of the required work is not always obvious until the old bathroom fittings have been removed.

Design basics * Layout planning *

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