How to design a shower bath
Anyone with a small bathroom will know that the only way to have the benefits of both a bath and a shower is to consider the two-in-one option of a 'shower bath'. The shower bath is simple – it's when the shower runs into the bath rather than a separate standalone shower tray and they can look rather lovely.
How to design a shower bath
There are a few considerations that you need to ponder before the final design. Firstly, do you want the shower to come out of the wall above the middle of the bath, or, more traditionally, to sit above the bath taps at one end? Both have their benefits and the latter suits a sport shower head better, while a rainfall shower can work well for either. The middle of the bath option feels roomier and more modern, however it does require a shower curtain instead of a glass screen. If your bath can only fit in the corner of the bathroom, you will need tiled walls. Bathroom tiles will need to run the length and width of the bath – anywhere that water might fall. If you can fit your bath in the middle of a wall instead, then a shower curtain around it will suffice.
An interior designer's advice for a shower bath
Patrick Williams of Berdoulat is the creator of one of our favourite shower bath designs, which you can see below. Here's what he has to say on them: 'Use a waxed linen shower curtain to give a softer look, and avoid the clinging curtain nightmare. With a circular "halo" shower curtain pole, use two curtains and make sure that where they meet corresponds to where the taps are or the shower valve is. Brass poles are always very expensive, and often the chrome ones are brass underneath, so sometimes it's cheaper to buy a chrome one (ensuring first it's of solid brass construction) and then have it stripped.'
Not all shower baths are born equal and you can do some very interesting things with them that think outside the box, as the examples below prove.
Davide Lovatti1/6The en-suite bathroom in Tara Craig's tiny London flat has a shower bath with the shower fixed in in the middle of the bath. The wall tiles are Balineum and brass fittings from Catchpole & Rye. The pink and blue colour scheme runs throughout the flat and so the bathroom is in keeping with the rest of the space. It is accessed via a jib door covered in the same Marialida’s ‘Urbino’ cotton in azzurro/antique white from Tissus d’Hélène as the rest of the bedroom.
Simon Brown2/6A bespoke Carrara marble shower surround and vanity unit contrasts with walls in a dark blue gloss paint in this flat by Beata Heuman. The bathroom – and the flat – is a small space so Beata thought outside the box and found a square-shaped bath to fit the room. Best Tile’s ‘Moroccan Encaustic Cement Pattern 06k’ tiles add decorative detail to the floor, while marble slabs waterproof the shower bath, which uses a glass screen to keep water from spilling into the bathroom.
Paul Massey3/6This Ben Pentreath shower bath design is an excellent example of how to use a shower curtain and keep a country feel to the bathroom A cast-iron Aston Matthews ‘Epoca’ bath, its sides painted in Emente’s ‘Orpiment’, provides a colourful contrast with Robert Kime’s ‘Grille Sage’ wallpaper and muted panelling in this bathroom by Ben Pentreath, where the shower comes directly into the middle of the bath, eschewing the need for tiles with the voluminous shower curtain.
Michael Sinclair4/6With a characteristic respect for the fabric of this eighteenth-century house in Bath, designer Patrick Williams has carefully transformed created a modern shower bath, with the design rooted in history. The round bath tub is unusual and totally charming – Jig Baths offers a similar round tub to the one used here. You can think outside the box with a shower bath and create something intriguing like this design.
Davide Lovatti5/6Known for their restoration of historic buildings in Scotland, conservation architects Nick Groves-Raines and Kristin Hannesdottir relished the challenge of saving Lamb's House in Leith, where they now live and work. A reclaimed, re-enamelled bath was added in the bathroom, where a metal screen is a very novel way of protecting the wooden floors and painted walls from splashes. It's another example that proves the many ways you can design a shower bath.
Owen Gale6/6In this London house, interior designers Clarence Graves installed a shower bath with an oblong curtain rail. The key thing for this is to use two pieces of fabric and join them at the tap end.
