If one doesn't insist on a glass enclosure and is willing to use a lowly shower curtain some of these issues are solved. We have a 3'x4' one piece acrylic shower stall. The floor is pebbly and not very slippery. I can reach in past the shower curtain and set the water temperature to suit before getting in. The acrylic is way easier to clean than the tiled shower I had in my last two houses because there isn't any grout. The shower is open at the top (+/- 7' above the floor) and I located the ERV exhaust pick-up adjacent to the shower and slightly above the top of the shower stall, so it keeps the mirror clear of condensation.
The best shower in our house is the outdoor shower! May - October is the best time of year for showers!
I had a shower like the Homewood Suites one in a Residence Inn this weekend and hated it! It was sized for a tub but was only a shower. There was a wall of glass near the shower head to keep water out of the bathroom, but the other side was fully open, which made for cold ambient air (and water still got everywhere). I agree with you on controls accessible outside of the stream, but felt the ones I just used were too far away to be useful (it also took longer for temperature changes at the valve to register at the shower because of the additional piping that had to empty).
100% agree on hand showers! They’re standard in Europe and should be more widely used in NA!
Shower valves where you have to go through cold to get to hot need to die out. Temperature/mix and flow should always be controlled separately, whether you have a thermostatic valve or a temperature/pressure one.
As GraniteGrok said in past posts, if the design is so awful then why hasn’t anyone designed, marketed, and sold a new product that DOES meet all the standards that are apparently missing? Seems like opportunity is staring us right in the eye.
Agreed we could be designing safer and more convenient bathing areas but I don’t think we need to completely do away with combo tub showers. If I’m designing a one-bath, two+ bedroom unit it’s 100% going to have a combo. People have kids who bathe and space is limited.
What happened to old school nonslip tub mats? Some tubs come with textured floors too.
Also you don’t have to read Kira to know that showers need footrests. That shower designer was probably a woman.
A hotel bathroom layout that impressed me with its layout was in this place in Tokyo; many of the features you highlight included.
Recent building with what looked like largely prefabricated bath pods. Powder room (basin only) acted as a vestibule to a wet room with shower and bath adjacent. WC fully separate on the other side of the hall. Well thought out and as with so many things in Japan, well finished. Gmaps link has photos; hotel site has 3D design sketches of the room layouts.
If one doesn't insist on a glass enclosure and is willing to use a lowly shower curtain some of these issues are solved. We have a 3'x4' one piece acrylic shower stall. The floor is pebbly and not very slippery. I can reach in past the shower curtain and set the water temperature to suit before getting in. The acrylic is way easier to clean than the tiled shower I had in my last two houses because there isn't any grout. The shower is open at the top (+/- 7' above the floor) and I located the ERV exhaust pick-up adjacent to the shower and slightly above the top of the shower stall, so it keeps the mirror clear of condensation.
The best shower in our house is the outdoor shower! May - October is the best time of year for showers!
The ERV will also work, which cannot be said for many noisemaker bathroom exhaust fans.
I had a shower like the Homewood Suites one in a Residence Inn this weekend and hated it! It was sized for a tub but was only a shower. There was a wall of glass near the shower head to keep water out of the bathroom, but the other side was fully open, which made for cold ambient air (and water still got everywhere). I agree with you on controls accessible outside of the stream, but felt the ones I just used were too far away to be useful (it also took longer for temperature changes at the valve to register at the shower because of the additional piping that had to empty).
100% agree on hand showers! They’re standard in Europe and should be more widely used in NA!
Shower valves where you have to go through cold to get to hot need to die out. Temperature/mix and flow should always be controlled separately, whether you have a thermostatic valve or a temperature/pressure one.
agreed!
As GraniteGrok said in past posts, if the design is so awful then why hasn’t anyone designed, marketed, and sold a new product that DOES meet all the standards that are apparently missing? Seems like opportunity is staring us right in the eye.
Agreed we could be designing safer and more convenient bathing areas but I don’t think we need to completely do away with combo tub showers. If I’m designing a one-bath, two+ bedroom unit it’s 100% going to have a combo. People have kids who bathe and space is limited.
What happened to old school nonslip tub mats? Some tubs come with textured floors too.
Also you don’t have to read Kira to know that showers need footrests. That shower designer was probably a woman.
A hotel bathroom layout that impressed me with its layout was in this place in Tokyo; many of the features you highlight included.
Recent building with what looked like largely prefabricated bath pods. Powder room (basin only) acted as a vestibule to a wet room with shower and bath adjacent. WC fully separate on the other side of the hall. Well thought out and as with so many things in Japan, well finished. Gmaps link has photos; hotel site has 3D design sketches of the room layouts.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/w9PszVSTkRiFrnqE9
https://mimaruhotels.com/en/hotel/asakusa-station/
I think that is the exact layout I cam up with for a story a decade ago on the history of the bathroom, at the bottom of this post https://www.treehugger.com/history-bathroom-revisited-4854753