Studio 304 has added a glazed bathroom to a London flat, featuring a sunken bathtub that offers Japanese-style bathing to its occupants.
Locally based Studio 304 designed the Sunken Bath for clients living in the ground-floor flat of a Victorian terraced house in east London.

The aim was to create a new bathroom that also offered space for Japanese ritual bathing ? a relaxation practice.
To allow for this, the team separated the toilet and shower room from the bathtub on a lower level. Glass walls and roof enclose this bathing area, offering views to the bamboo, planting and gravel that make up the property's private garden.

"The bath is designed to follow the Japanese ritual of bathing, so it is meant for relaxing and warming oneself rather than cleaning," architect Gary Tynan told Dezeen. "Washing is carried out separately outside in the shower adjacent." Larch slats cover the bathroom's glass roof, as well as the eastern side of the flat, to maintain privacy.

A cement-based coating covers the bathroom surfaces, while wooden boards partially line the shower and toilet room. These finishes are offset by golden details, including the taps and shower head.

"The materials used on the project were chosen to age well over time and develop a patina of their own," explained the architect, who also recently completed a glass box extension to a park-side home in Hackney.
"Surfaces in the bathroom, shower room and toilet are coat...