Shower Door Experts in Europe

See the full gallery on Posterous

Recently, this Shower Door Expert spent two weeks in Europe on vacation. However, as the saying goes: “You can take the boy out of Shower Door Experts, but you can’t take the Shower Door Expert out of the boy.” To the chagrin of my significant other, one hotel room in particular in Rotterdam, NL became the basis for a photo shoot, as it was outfitted with many glass details and high-end bathroom fixtures.

The gallery above has full high resolution pictures, but here are some of the highlights:

• The headboard of the bed was a flat table-like surface, and the designers chose to place an acid etched piece of glass inset with LED backlighting. This exactly replicates an application we used in our showroom, using an inset backlit panel within our neo angle display. Using glass in this manner puts off a soft, ambient light, which can really dictate the ambience of a room.
• For a 5-star hotel, the shower enclosure was pretty underwhelming. I know, I know… not everyone is an industry geek, and it was certainly functional. I just expected something fully frameless in a hotel of that caliber. In any case, it was still an interesting application because this semi-frameless shower did not have a header, which is something you don’t really see stateside. This was accomplished through the use of a small stabilizer bar, running from the panel on the right to the back wall. We’ve used stabilizer bars on fully frameless units where headers weren’t an option, but I’d never seen one on a semi-frameless unit. Even though was plenty of metal framing and channel (including an obnoxious handle running the full height of the door and doubling as a strike jamb), the stabilizer bar opened up some options design-wise. We’ve been doing more and more units that use them lately, but most of the ones we use run vertically to the ceiling and have modern offsets.
• Sauna in the bathroom?! Yes, please.

Check out the full gallery above, and note the use of a wall-mounted sink and wall- mounted toilet to maximize space. There was also a window between the bathroom and bedroom, which struck me as odd at first, but ultimately grew on me due to the sunlight it allowed in. One thing is certain: someone with way more design acumen than yours truly put together one heck of an attractive, serene space! Creating a spa-like environment is my definition of a successful bathroom, and this one fit the bill.

Happy Showering!