Asian Infusion (continued)
In lower Manhattan, designer Shamir Shah created a sophisticated, understated flat for a client whose passion is modern and Asian art.
As laid out by the developer, the apartment had three small bathrooms, plus a laundry room in an oddly prominent location. Shah's client wanted a spacious master bathroom, which was achieved by converting one of the two small bathrooms and the laundry room into a single space. (Shah created a new, smaller laundry room in what had been a hall closet.) With a bigger bathroom to maneuver in, the owner could have a shower that wouldn't feel confining. Shah installed a "deluge" shower head in the ceiling of the wet area (above) -- no shower curtains or glass enclosure required. The drain is in the middle of the floor. (The tub, which the client hardly ever uses, is an investment, he says, in a future that could include marriage.)
Once he had changed the room's configuration, Shah tackled its aesthetics. He turned the bathroom from developer's standard -- in which fixtures feel tacked on -- to integrated composition. He did that by limiting his palette to the dark brown of the vanity cabinet and tile walls, the beige of the travertine slabs that enclose the tub and countertop, and the putty color of the custom plaster walls flanking the vanity. He also pulled the room together by installing built-ins in place of disparate accessories.
Mirrors, vertical strips of lighting and medicine cabinets are incorporated into a single, bronze-framed unit above the vanity in the master bathroom. It also helps that Shah chose the smallest possible ceiling fixtures (the apertures are about two inches across) and positioned them so that the ceiling feels as carefully designed as any other surface in the room. The balance of textures and colors creates a room that is absolutely unique.
If you're looking for a place to sleep soundly, you couldn't do better than this bedroom. Two prerequisites -- darkness and quiet -- are both addressed in the design. Wood blinds (controlled electrically, because raising and lowering them all by hand would be too much of a chore) and wool drapes with a blackout lining provide darkness. As for quiet, the owner was lucky that the developer had installed soundproofing windows (which succeed even when taxi drivers' tempers flare six floors below). Whatever noises remain -- the ticking of a clock? -- are absorbed into padded surfaces, including the cashmere carpet and the headboard of woven horsehair (part of a bed custom-designed by Shah). Then there are the walls, one upholstered in Great Plains silk from Holly Hunt, the others swathed in grasscloth from Jack Lenor Larsen. But the room is restful in another way: The choice of a few neutral colors (the soft tones of the Frette bed linens, the beige of the painted walls) makes the entire composition calming. Of course, in Shah's hands, muted doesn't equal boring. Instead of going for bright colors, he went for rich textures. Being in the room "is a tactile experience, which is a signature of our work," he says.
Another signature is furniture that draws on the sophistication of the art deco movement. Shah designed the night tables, of high-gloss lacquer framed in bronze, and chose bedside lamps of silver leaf (from New York's Ochre). Both give off a glamorous glow without making the room any less restful. Says the owner, "You feel like you're completely apart from the city."
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