December 9, 2019

Duravit USA has announced the winner and honorable mentions of its seventh-annual Designer Dream Bath Competition. As part of a new 2019 program with sales partner Frank Webb Home, the competition evolved from a national footprint to a regional focus in the Northeast. The winners are Paris Kostopoulos and Tina Psoinos of New York City-based Paris K Design, who will receive $5,000 worth of Duravit product for their “Built Project” submission. Honorable mentions were awarded to Bori Kang of Richard Meier & Partners and Coco Kanakis of Spaciality Inc.

Kostopoulos and Psoinos elegantly redesigned a New York City apartment bathroom and solved their client’s small space problem. KBB spoke with Kostopoulos to find out more about the team’s winning design.

GOALS
Kostopoulos: “We wanted to provide the client with a comfortably large bath mainly for older family guests visiting for prolonged periods of time. It also needed to accommodate their teenagers and friends while watching movies and playing games in the adjacent screening room. We wanted to create a modern, calming bathroom experience where plumbing fixtures stand out for their clean design, as well as for utility, where lighting plays an integral role and can be adjusted for all moods and where the feel of luxury is achieved.”

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
Kostopoulos: “The space allocated to this bath was previously a kitchen – we combined two apartments to make one space in this redesign. That posed a few practical challenges. First, we had to change the current dimensions of the space to make it a handicapped-accessible bathroom. Since there was only a sink previously, we also had to reroute all the plumbing pipes from the existing building risers to accommodate a bathtub and a toilet.

We utilized the Duravit Starck wall-hung toilet that allowed us to run the drain pipes along the walls until we reached the risers. We also ran all other pipes inside the walls in an intricate but carefully designed web of piping for drainage and supply to facilitate the new locations, along with wall niches, valves, etc. On top of that the wall – outside the new bathroom – was the electrical panel for this part of the apartment, where all the electrical and lighting lines were initiated. The complexity of all the electrical with the plumbing created a challenge that was overcome with careful positioning.”

MATERIAL PALETTE
Kostopoulos: “We selected large-format porcelain tiles by Florim to line all walls and floors, which then blend seamlessly with Duravit’s Happy D Vanity in American walnut. A custom step assists transition in and out of the bathtub and provides the needed warmth of the walnut wood to counteract the coolness of Florim’s light gray porcelain tile.

Remembering that a large portion of the apartments in New York have low ceilings, we created a shallow drop ceiling to allow for LED downlights, as well as perimeter LED strip lighting. An oversized medicine cabinet was embedded in the wall to provide needed storage and was illuminated with a separately switched LED strip. All faucets and plumbing valves by California Faucets were custom ordered in a satin-gold finish from Valley Design Central Plumbing supply.”

FAVORITE PART
Kostopoulos: “From the beginning, I was very excited about the process of figuring out how to provide a solution to transform this old galley kitchen to a comfortably laid out full bath, while staying within code and while making all the plumbing and electrical work in the existing space. We had to move all the walls, and after a carefully choreographed process of “threading the needle” – if that expression can be used for pipes – we achieved our goal. As soon as the finishes were completed, I was exhilarated to find that my client’s kids now preferred this bathroom more than any of the four baths in this apartment. The result is a calming, modern space.”