Understanding Bathroom Design - Vessel Style Washbasins

Professional bathroom designers are masterful at merging both function and form to create breathtaking results. In this eight-part series which I call "Understanding Bathroom Design," I draw on my experience working with some of London's top bathroom designers to explain this exciting field. This sixth article focuses on the vessel-style washbasin – a true designer delight!


The vessel-style washbasin has been around for many centuries. It originated not in London but in Ancient China, before the existence of piped water or water treatment facilities, when people simply needed a vessel in which to hold water that had been drawn from the local well. But in the context of bathroom design, today's vessel-style basin is free-standing and sits directly atop a bathroom counter or similar furniture unit. The London interior designer can source all sorts of different styles, dimensions and appearances, to match almost any bathroom design imaginable. One can select from a wide array of standard materials, including metal, glass, and semiprecious stone, or – for super-luxury bathroom designs – one may turn to gemstone-embedded or jewelled models.


What are the advantages of a vessel-style washbasin over a more traditional model? These basins aren't constrained to slide into a regular-sized hole within a standard counter. Accordingly, London's top bathroom designers can benefit from much more creative designs and shapes, with non-symmetric detailing and unusual footprints adding visual interest. Many vessel-style basins are taller in the back than in the front – a big boost for a smaller London bathroom design that needs a "touch of flair" but that has no space for a rear splashback.


Clients often tell me they have fallen in love with a standalone basin but just can't figure out where it should go, perhaps because it doesn't quite fit in their existing bathroom design. In such cases I may recommend the basin be installed in a London powder room, where it will serve mainly for handwashing - instead of shaving, brushing one's teeth and giving the household chihuahua a bath.


In the next article in my series "Understanding Bathroom Design," I'll return to eco-friendly bathroom designs in London and discuss how to clean and maintain your bathroom in a way that helps protect the environment.



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