Bath Planning

Guidelines, Codes, Standards

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• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118404508
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Interior Design

The leading resource for student and professional bath designers—completely revised and updated

Bath Planning is the most authoritative resource available on the subject, containing everything a professional needs to know to design a safe, functional, effective, and attractive bath. Based on the National Kitchen and Bath Association's Kitchen and Bathroom Planning Guidelines and the related Access Standards, this book presents the best practices developed by the Association's committee of professionals through extensive research.

This Second Edition has been completely revised and redesigned throughout, with new full-color photographs and illustrations and a special emphasis on client needs, research, and references to industry information. Features include:

• New and expanded information on universal design and sustainable design
• The 2012 edition of the NKBA Planning Guidelines with Access Standards and up-to-date applications of the 2012 International Residential Code
• New information about storage, cabinet construction, and specifying cabinets
• Metric measurement equivalents included throughout
• A companion website with forms and teaching resources for instructors

1
Bathroom History, Research, and Trends

Although the bathroom has changed throughout history, it has always reflected the prevailing cultural attitudes toward hygiene, cleanliness, privacy, relaxation, socializing, and even morality and religion. The development of our modern bath has also been dependent upon evolution in public infrastructure, technology, codes, and other policies.

Today the bathroom is not only the center for personal hygiene, but also a place for relaxation. Research continues to contribute important knowledge related to designing bathrooms for function and safety. Since many bathrooms are being downsized because homes are shrinking in size, the efficient use of space becomes more important than ever. Today's bathrooms emphasize quality and function, and they make use of a variety of materials and designs to produce a unique and personalized room for a household.

The changing demographic makeup of North American households will continue to alter the way our bathrooms look and how they serve users, especially in light of the growing number of older people in our population. This chapter examines the history of the bath, reviews important research in bathroom design, and provides an overview of key demographic and psychographic trends that are now affecting bathroom design.

1. Learning Objective 1: Describe how evolving lifestyles and technologies have impacted bathroom trends over time.
2. Learning Objective 2: Describe new trends in present-day bathroom design.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BATHROOM

The typical North American bathroom, as we know it today, has a relatively short history. The early “bath room” or “bath house” was strictly for bathing. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that one room in the home included all personal hygiene activities in one place. However, some of the activities and rituals currently enjoyed in our baths had their origins centuries ago.

Early Civilizations and the Bath

Although evidence indicates that ancient Egyptians and the residents of Crete had bathing facilities, the bath was taken to new levels by early Greek, Minoan, and Roman civilizations, which embraced it as a way to escape the stresses of everyday life. Most people found the experience so soothing that they typically bathed daily in public bath houses. The baths were not just for cleaning but were a way of life, and in many societies the baths were enjoyed by all social classes of people.

The Greeks developed the “gymnasium,” which means “the naked place.” After working up a sweat while exercising, the Greek participants would then take a very brief splash of water to cool down but did not really experience what we would consider a thorough cleaning.

The Romans were more serious about their bathing. The early Roman bath houses were often highly decorated with paintings, statues, and elaborate architectural details to add to the pleasure. Because aqueducts could deliver large amounts of water to cities, numerous and large public baths appeared. In addition to both hot and cold tubs, filled from pipes or aqueducts, these ancient bath houses may have included steam chambers, showers, and rooms with dry heat. These efficient systems would not be matched for another 1500 years. The Roman bathing ritual involved many steps. After soaking, bathers were covered with ointments and oils. The ointments and oils were then scraped off of the bather's skin and along with them came the dirt.

The public bath house was also the center of social activities and a form of recreation (see Figure 1.1). For example, baths in the Roman City of Herculaneum included courts for playing ball and a gymnasium. Other baths incorporated libraries, shops, tennis courts, and snack bars. Because of the bath house's significance in society, these cultures found no need to incorporate baths into private homes.

Figure 1.1 The Roman bath was a place frequented by Romans of all classes. The baths were often large and ornately decorated, such as the Great Bath in Bath, England.

Steve Cadman on Flickr

In addition to making bathing an enjoyable experience and a prominent part of their lives, the Greeks' and Romans' understanding and practice of good sanitation were extraordinary for the time. The Greek and Roman concept of the “bath” and their belief in the power of water has come full circle to the pools, hot tubs, soaking tubs, mineral baths, and spas we enjoy today.

Public baths were a part of other cultures as well. The “Turkish bath,” a steam bath that is followed by a shower and massage, developed when Roman bathing customs were combined with those of nomadic people such as the Byzantines. The early Japanese culture also embraced communal public baths.

Latrines

Just as baths were public facilities in early Roman and Greek civilizations, so were latrines. Although, some early evidence of the home chamber pot was also recorded, Roman water closets and latrines were actually flushed by water. In addition to a public water supply achieved through aqueducts, the Roman Empire also established quite sophisticated sewer systems, which did not appear again until the nineteenth century.

The Middle Ages

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the bath was no longer an important part of daily life and disappeared for centuries. Through the Middle Ages, the fifth to fifteenth centuries, bathing was not a common activity and little attention was given to personal hygiene. Much of the decline was due to physicians who thought bathing was harmful to health, and clerics—in particular the Puritans—who thought nakedness and bathing to be indecent and sinful. The spread of diseases and the tightening of church doctrine eventually closed down communal baths in Europe.

Sanitation in general suffered during the Middle Ages. Few, if any, advances were made in devices to collect waste. Without a sewer system or other disposal methods, chamber pots were usually emptied out the windows. Sometimes that meant pouring waste onto the streets below and often onto people using the streets. Water for home use was drawn from the closest water...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Sponsors
• Gold Sponsors
• About The National Kitchen & Bath Association
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Bathroom History, Research, and Trends
• Chapter 2: Infrastructure Considerations
• Chapter 3: Environmental and Sustainability Considerations
• Chapter 4: Human Factors and Universal Design Foundation
• Chapter 5: Assessing Needs
• Chapter 6: Bathroom Planning
• Chapter 7: Mechanical Planning
• Chapter 8: Accessibility in Practice
• Chapter 9: More Than a Bathroom
• Chapter 10: Putting It All Together
• Appendix A: Bathroom Planning Guidelines with Access Standards
• Appendix B: Measurement Conversions
• Glossary
• Resources
• Index
• End User License Agreement