Hadi Teherani's bathroom for AXOR has individual distinction

In the last two years, people have spent a lot more time in their homes, leading also to more questions about their living habits and design conventions. Bathrooms, for one, are increasingly becoming spaces for individual recreation, and this departure from functional wet room opens up new possibilities for exploration in relation to design. AXOR, the luxury German bathroom fitting manufacturer, has passed on some of these questions to various renowned designers: What does the ideal bathroom look like? How can it become a mirror of one's personality? Among others, Hadi Teherani has provided an answer with a spatial design – one that invokes the archetype of a sanctuary.

In the different designs for AXOR's 'Distinctive’ project, there is little room for fixed regulatory standards, conventions or white tiles. Instead, the concepts speak to the desires and preferences of both their designers and users. Teherani's concept presents the architecture with sacred expansiveness. The rounded layout is spanned by a high domed structure, for which he drew inspiration from oriental wellness centres. ‘What do you need to be safe and secure and at the same time free and detached? Humans have always built cocoons in order to feel protected and to find shelter – no matter whether they are made of snow, earth or stone. The archetype of a dwelling, if you will. Enveloping, but not constricting,’ explains the architect, who was born in Tehran and lives in Hamburg. He has deliberately not located his concept. It could stand in the centre of a house or a hotel suite, but it was designed as a place of contemplation detached from its surroundings.

In the Middle East, public baths are often composed of several such domed structures. These are interconnected but host different individual functional spaces such as baths, changing rooms or toilets. They can be several hundred square metres in size yet still create a private and intimate atmosphere due to their clear spatial separation. Teherani's room is also designed as part of a cluster and opens up on four sides. Two windows facing each other and two passageways have an effect on the geometry of the space and also allow people to meet. However, the bathroom is actually intended as a retreat that offers cosy and sensual moments of relaxation. By placing the organically shaped tub in the centre of the room, Teherani allows it to act as an echo to the floor plan while also controlling the user's focus. ‘When you lie in the centre of the tub, you have the feeling that you are looking into the vastness of the starry sky,’ he suggests.

In a room without corners and with few edges, the boundaries become blurred. Teherani intensifies the effect through his choice of materials. The walls are clad with a metallic, reflective glass mosaic, whose iridescent effect is picked up by the windows. With patterned grids in front, their light effect is reminiscent of the reflections of the small tiles. The floor is covered with light marble. Teherani thus creates a visual unison in the room, which at the same time clearly distinguishes itself from the outside world. The designer explains why he chose this tension between expanse and security: ‘The bathroom is a space to which I retreat and where I can shed ballast, from which I emerge as if reborn. I see it as a place where I can cleanse myself, also in a figurative sense. This place protects me, offers me security, but doesn't constrict me in the process.’

Teherani sets particular accents with his choice of fittings. Elements from the AXOR Citterio E collection, the overhead and hand showers, and AXOR Universal Softsquare accessories were chosen in a matt black finish. ‘For me, these products fullfil the role of a functional piece of jewellery,’ he says. ‘Because they crown the bathroom concept with their timeless elegance and bring the water to the washbasin and into the shower. The overhead shower is the filling station for new energy, the bath mixer the source of water at the bath.’ Furthermore, with many special finishes to choose from, they also give the opportunity for individualisation. ‘This concept is the basis of the primary areas that you need in a bathroom: washbasin, shower, bath. The design allows you to add to the bathroom according to your personal ideas.’

AXOR also sees individualisation as a megatrend of our time. ‘How can architects and interior designers understand the changing personal wishes of their customers even better and develop solutions that will last for years and create enthusiasm? And how do their customers create spaces that are tailored to their very individual needs?’ asks Anke Sohn, Head of Global Brand Marketing at AXOR – and immediately offers the answer with the company's ‘Distinctive’ project. Because whether in relation to materiality, floorplan or furnishings, Teherani can only set the mood and scope of the bathroom space based on what can be individually formulated via the fittings, furnishings and detail decisions.

© Architonic