How 'experience' showers are replacing tubs as the bathing unit of choice
In the 1980s and '90s, the ultimate indulgence was a home spa. It was the era of "the tub" - the bigger and deeper the better - and people ripped out whole bathrooms to accommodate it.
But in reality, few had time for that "long soak" and efficient functionality won out over luxury. Then we became environmentally aware, so who could justify the water use?
Now, we're at it again: this time, baths are out, and showers are back in. Enter the "experience" shower, offering spa-like effects to the time-poor.
"We've noticed people are spending more on showering than ever before, and this is becoming one of the key areas in the bathroom," says Davis.
"Designers also see this trend as a chance to show off their design flair and imagination by creating wonderful showering concepts and spaces."
Waterfall showers, rain showers, body jets, multi-function heads, steam and even aroma- and chromotherapy offer "a full eclipse of your senses in your own home", says Davis.
Dornbracht recognised the allure early, developing a rain shower in 1996. Its products have evolved to recreate "the spirit of water in many forms", including RainSky (cold mist or changing temperatures); the Horizontal Shower (where you lie down on a heated bench); and the new Sensory Sky, which bathes the user in various types of rain, fog, light and fragrance.
Explains Wolfram Quast, regional sales director of Dornbracht in Asia Pacific: "Through preset choreographies, just by pressing one button, users can shower like they're standing in nature, experiencing the different effects that water gives to the skin."
Grohe, meanwhile, lets customers "configure their own bespoke shower" through its tailor-made range, which also allows choices in terms of installation costs. Piped music, coloured LED lamps and moisturising steam mists are among the options.
Grohe technology is even designed to protect against hot or chilly "surprises" resulting from pressure fluctuations in water supply pipes.
Hong Kong architect Adrian McCarroll, founder and managing director of Original Vision, agrees that the emphasis has shifted.
He's pulling out tubs for clients all over the city - including in his own home. Unless there are small children in the household, there is no real need for a tub, and the space can be better used, McCarroll finds.
Most in demand, he says, are showers you can walk into which have a decent shower head for "a good drenching shower".
There are practical considerations, too. McCarroll says that showers are cheaper to install than baths; they don't require such a big water heater; and they don't waste as much water. So in the long run, they're more economical.
But to make the "experience" showers work you need good water pressure, which not all buildings have. "Even a rain shower needs a big, steady flow of water," says McCarroll.
Today's showers transform the daily cleansing ritual into a relaxing, "quiet time" to balance and energise the body, soul and mind, says Dornbracht's Quast.
But that's not all. The bathroom is going digital, with Quast alluding to a future where, via home automation controlled by smartphone, the shower stands ready to greet you in the morning with water, floor heating and towel warmer all turned on.
The water even comes out at the right temperature to wake you up, he says: "Everything is prepared to start your day."
