Creating A Home Spa with Steam
Updated Dec 2, 2023
Estimated reading time 5-7 min
What turns a bathroom into a luxurious spa in your home?
We want to provide you with an introduction to creating a luxury spa bathroom in your home, whether it is a renovation or a custom home. Our article below is based upon a magazine article written by Corey Klassen in 2013 referencing his first major international award-winning project. It includes some of the components and upgrades you can consider when you are looking to create a spa experience in your home. Projects will ultimately be as unique as you are because everyone has different investment priorities. It all starts with taking the time for thoughtful planning and finish selections, as well as selecting a quality contractor who will implement it.
Corey has a reputation in the industry for luxury bathroom design and colour. Lecturing on this and related topics, and has written professional development courses for Architects and Interior Designers—including one specifically dedicated to design steam showers. In addition, Corey was 1 of 2 Canadian designers apart of the initial launch of DXV by American Standard and you may recall his design feature called Lofty Visions. With that background and history in mind, we pulled this article from our archives to remind you that we were emerging on trend 10 years ago and now steam showers have become mainstream.
In this article we will cover:
The benefits of steam
Planning a large bathroom
When planning and designing the steam shower
Lighting
Our background
Additional resources
Our article about steam showers for the One Room Challenge
The Home Spa: Steam, nature and technology
Written by Corey Klassen, CMKBD NCIDQ IIDA
Creating a luxury spa experience for a client is always exciting! A Home Spa differs from a bathroom in that it incorporates a jetted tub, steam shower, or another type of hydrotherapy equipment for the purpose of relaxation. In the case of this principal bedroom ensuite bath, we selected a steam shower in addition to a cast-iron soaker tub and completed the design with natural elements, reclaimed fir floor joists, and space planning for multiple activities for two very busy professionals.
The benefits of steam are nearly limitless. Steam showers improve circulation through vasodilation, where the blood vessels widen allowing for a positive effect on the blood pressure. They also aid in the recovery from exercise by alternating between a cold bath and a hot steam to reduce muscle fatigue and help eliminate the metabolic waste stored. Steam opens up the pores, and it takes only twenty-minutes per week to reduce blemishes or soften hair for shaving. Finally, steam helps with stress management by allowing the muscles to completely relax and even fatigue before bedtime.
When planning a large bathroom, it is crucial to understand the lifestyle of the user first and foremost. Quite often there are religious and ethnic considerations to plan for, or there are cleansing rituals and bathing patterns that the homeowner wishes to maintain. Planning considerations are lengthy and there are always important questions to ask in this dirty business and some of them are quite personal. For example, is there a hand shower? How many? What about make-up application? Are there shaving activities for both male and female users? Where are towels hung to try? Do the clients use a laundry bin? Is there a specific elimination need? What about brushing teeth? The questions are endless but it is important for everyone to have a clear idea of what they need their bathroom to do.
Primary Baths with Home Spas have additional equipment like a steam generator or a whirlpool and pump, and that equipment needs to be planned for, allocated, accessed, repaired, serviced and replaced as needed. The sheer volume of mechanics that are behind the walls with limited tolerances can outmaneuver the best of us so it is critical we select products and explore all the planning options. All the functional components must have direct access for a repair or service, so consider locating the equipment in an adjoining room, closet or other storage space within the insulated areas of the home. The operational controls and the steam head are additional planning considerations. These details must meet the minimum requirements of the manufacturer so ensuring a through understanding of the installation instructions is not only an asset but a need.
When planning and designing the steam shower itself it is important to adhere to municipal building codes and more importantly to the Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Association of Canada's (T.T.M.A.C.) recommendations for materials, ceiling slope, expansion joints and waterproofing systems. The most important feature of a steam shower is its 2-inch per foot slope (1:6) that allows for the steam particulate to cascade and run down the shower walls. With such a degree of slope it proves difficult to maintain large-format tiles in some applications and a smaller tile is favoured. It is important to not get hung up on natural stones for this application. Although they are beautiful, natural stones have iron content and they can become pink or impossible to clean due to a chemical reaction called efflorescence. Be sure you follow the tile manufacturer's recommendation for installation application. The material selections for this bathroom are a combination of marble-look porcelain tiles, Calcutta marble tiles, engineered-stone quartz surfaces, metals and reclaimed fir taken from the original floor joists.
The last part of the design and most overlooked aspect of every bathroom, is lighting. Incorporating luxury designer light fixtures, recessed lighting and natural light account for all the important aspects of good lighting. Planning the fixture locations involves careful measurements and a method of disguising the ventilation, sprinkler and audiovisual systems added into today's Master Home Spa's. Home integration, or the use of a sound, household management, and environmental systems, continues to need careful consideration and control when layering this added effect into the home.
I have always said that designing a bathroom is a dirty job. Ultimately, there is no standard plan for every of bathroom and no one set of rules or guidelines apply to every client. Creating a Principle Ensuite Bath Home Spa to relax, in luxury, takes fine attention to detail, extensive pre-planning and the right product selections for a seamless, low-maintenance, and luxurious result.
Background
Hi! Andrew here, and I am the Design Director at Articulated Design Studio. A founding principal of our studio is how we work together with our clients and their chosen contractors in an integrated design approach.
Our Principal Designer and Founder, Corey Klassen CMKBD NCIDQ IIDA, is a Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer through the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Corey is a fan of the many features and benefits to steam showers. So much so that he is a recognised subject matter expert in:
luxury bath design
steam shower planning and design
accessible design and living in place
Over the years Corey has contributed back to the design industry at large not only through teaching the next generation of designers, and providing educational content at design industry events across both Canada and the United States. He has also been involved in publications and educational programs for the design industry across Canada and the United States.
“Then there was the total revamping of our certification program. I would like to give a shout out to two of our long time collaborators: Corey Klassen CMKBD of Articulated Design Studio and Judith Neary CMKBD of Roadside Attractions. Thank you both for your help and guidance with our new program which features a learning management system that makes it easier to access materials, as well as to track your progress online. Our certifications as well as our growing badge program are even more valuable as a competitive tool in today’s market.”
Bill Darcy, CEO NKBA, January 31, 2023, Time stamp 20:57 min/sec
https://nkba.org/insights/nkba-ceo-delivered-state-of-the-association-address-at-kbis-2023/
Over the past few years there have been many things happening behind the scenes at Articulated that we can only start to reveal. The accessible story to our bathroom renovation project linked to below is a great way to start that. Corey has won local and international awards for both kitchen and bath design, and regularly spoken to the industry. Yet it wasn’t until a industry publication in 2022, recognised Corey’s contributions to both accessible and inclusive design. Through an independent peer nomination, Corey became an Innovator of 2022 by Kitchen & Bath Design News Magazine.
Check out our latest project!
Our latest luxury bathroom design incorporates a steam shower into this home spa. The timeline lined up with the One Room Challenge so we wrote a series of blogs about the project. This link brings you to our in depth article about steam showers