Meet the ‘wet room,’ the latest in luxury bathrooms

When architects Keren and Thomas Richter were renovating their Brooklyn loft, they wanted both a shower and a soaking tub in their primary bathroom. But square footage was at a premium in the apartment, on the top floor of a 19th-century school building.

So the couple did what many homeowners and hoteliers have begun doing: They installed a “wet room.” The snug space, separated from the sink and toilet by sleek glass doors, incorporates both a cast-iron bathtub and an open shower. “We did it partially due to space constraints,” Keren says. “But it’s now also the place where I have a relaxing soak or throw a kid into the shower.”

The term wet room generally refers to a room-within-a-room in a primary (or large) bathroom. Think a water-resistant walk-in closet of sorts with stone or tile floors and walls, a drain in the floor, an open shower and a freestanding tub. Wet rooms are encased by glass doors and walls to hold in warmth and steam.

“It’s a concept that overlaps a bit with a mudroom in that it’s a space you get clean, which you can just hose down,” says Catherine Fowlkes, a residential architect in D.C. “It’s the same practical principle.”

These wet room combos started to bubble up in hotels about a decade ago. While smaller, cheaper properties were rushing toward showers-only loos, luxury hotels splashed out on trophy bathrooms with deluxe showers and shapely, free-standing tubs in one space. Those tubs were crafted of materials such as hammered copper or volcanic stone, and they sometimes came with great views. “People had these immersive hotel experiences, and then they wanted to bring them home,” Keren Richter says.

The trend is also powered by tubs far more chic than the bulky Jacuzzis and tile-surrounded ovals popular at the turn of the 21st century. Brands such as Victoria + Albert, Water Monopoly and Kohler are turning out sleek, artful soaking varieties ranging from retro ceramic vessels with ball feet to simple wooden vats that immerse users in water up to their necks, a la ancient Japan. Newish “hammock” tubs — cast in carbon fiber or resin — mimic the suspended look of between-the-palm-trees fabric or rope models and use less water than standard tubs.

“There’s an elegance to many contemporary tubs. They almost become architectural sculptures,” says Michael Sauri, the president of Arlington, Virginia, design/build firm TriVistaUSA. Homeowners want the vessels in their wet rooms as much for their good looks as their functionality. Tubs aren’t replacing showers, but they’re seen as their natural companions.

That’s because, in a small to medium-size bathroom, one area holding both a tub and shower requires less square footage — and less tile and labor — than having the two elements separated. Think of the combo as luxury on a budget, although a wet room will be more expensive than a single-stall shower or an old-timey niche bathtub with a showerhead.

Plus, “if the space is smaller and closed off, you can experience the warmth from the steam,” Sauri says. “You are naked in this tiled space — you kind of want it to feel intimate.”

Adding a wet room to your bathroom isn’t a weekend DIY project unless you have your own HGTV show. It requires space planning, a knowledge of building codes and plumbing expertise. “Part of the technical challenge is that the floor needs to gently slope toward the drain,” says Michelle Vassallo, of D.C.’s MV Architects. “Sometimes that requires redoing the entire floor to get that angle.” The drain could be a traditional round one or a long, thin linear model resembling a stylish street grate.

Another challenge: Bathrooms on higher floors might have to be entirely reframed to support a freestanding tub. “Almost every time we do a bathroom in an old house, the floors underneath are a Swiss cheese experiment,” Sauri says. “They’re not straight, they’re not level. It’s hard to put a big heavy vessel over that kind of surface.”

Clearances are also important as you plot what goes where within a wet room. There must be enough space between the tub and shower to ensure that the shower doesn’t spray into the tub. “You need about 30 to 36 inches of movement or circulation space between them,” Sauri says.

Because water and steam are the whole point, wet room floors, walls and, occasionally, ceilings get clad in tile or stone. Honed or textured finishes underfoot keep the room from turning into a slip-and-slide. “You see smaller tiles on floors in these zones for a couple of reasons,” Fowlkes says. “They’re easier to install around a central floor drain, and smaller tiles require lots of grout. This adds friction and makes the surface less slippery.”

No matter how they’re conceived, wet rooms are just another way homeowners are immersing themselves in the wellness movement. “People are a lot more conscientious of their health and well-being, so they see wet rooms as a real plus,” Davis says. “It’s like you have a spa in your home.”