The Freestanding Bath

Morning light from a tall window falls across a floor of pale stone and comes to rest on the curve of a bath standing on its own, a little apart from the walls. Nothing hides it, and nothing needs to. A freestanding bath is the one piece of bathroom equipment that is also an object, seen from every side. Here is how to choose its material, plan the practical details and find its place in the room.

At a glance

• Roll-top cast-iron baths with enamel interiors and claw or ball feet became popular in the nineteenth century.
• Stone resin, carved solid stone, copper and hinoki cypress each bring their own surface and character.
• Water weighs about one kilogram per litre, so have the floor structure checked before ordering.
• Place the bath beneath a window, in the centre of the room or in an alcove.

Cast iron and enamel

The roll-top bath is the form most people picture first. Its rim curls outwards into a rounded lip, its body is cast in iron and lined with vitreous enamel fused on at high heat, and it rests on four feet, shaped as claws gripping a ball or simply as balls. The type became popular in the nineteenth century, as the bathroom became a room of its own in comfortable houses, and it has never left them.

Enamel gives a smooth, glassy surface that is pleasant to touch and easy to clean, and the heavy iron beneath it holds the warmth of the water well once the bath has filled. The outside can be painted in any colour: a deep green, a soft grey or a dark ink that makes the white interior glow. Painted or polished feet lift the bath just enough for light to pass beneath it.

Some have one sloped end, others two, with the taps in the middle so either end can be the comfortable one. A slipper bath raises one end higher still, like the back of a chair, for a long and reclining soak.

Stone, copper and wood

Baths of stone resin or cast mineral, a blend of finely ground natural stone and resin poured into a mould, give a seamless, matt surface and soft, monolithic shapes: ovals, deep bowls, gentle asymmetries. They feel warm to the touch, and because the colour runs right through the material, a light mark in the matt finish can usually be smoothed away.

A bath carved from a single block of solid stone is something else again. Marble, limestone, travertine or granite is hollowed out of the block and finished by hand, so each bath carries the veining of its quarry and no two are alike. It is also among the heaviest objects a house can hold, which is why the floor comes first in the planning.

Copper brings colour and change: hammered or smooth, polished to a rosy glow or left to deepen into a soft brown patina. Wood, finally, belongs to the Japanese tradition of the soaking tub. A tub of hinoki, the fragrant cypress, is deeper and shorter than a western bath, made for sitting upright with the water at the shoulders, and it releases a clean, resinous scent whenever it is warm and wet.

What the floor must carry

Before a bath is chosen for its looks, ask whether the house can hold it. Water alone weighs about one kilogram per litre, so a bath holding two hundred litres carries two hundred kilograms of water before the tub and the bather are counted. Cast iron and solid stone add a great deal more. A structural engineer can confirm the floor, particularly in an older house or on an upper storey, and plan any reinforcement in good time.

The plumbing is the part that disappears, and it is decided early. Taps can rise from the floor on standpipes beside the bath, which keeps the walls clear and suits a bath in the middle of the room, or they can be mounted on the wall, which suits an alcove or a window bay. Either way, the supply pipes, the waste and the overflow are set before the floor is laid, positioned for the exact bath chosen.

Before anything is ordered, settle five points:

• Load: the weight of bath, water and bather on the floor
• Clearance: room to clean around every side
• Taps: standing on the floor or mounted on the wall
• Waste and overflow: fixed before the floor is laid
• Delivery: a route through doors and up the stairs

Finding its place

Beneath a window is the classic position, and for good reason: the bather looks out at sky, trees or rooftops, and daylight falls across the water. Reeded glass, a linen blind or wooden shutters keep the view private and let the light in. Make sure the window can still be opened comfortably from beside the bath.

In the centre of a generous room the bath becomes a sculpture, walked around and seen from every side. Here a shapely form and a beautiful exterior repay every glance. Taps standing on the floor and a floor of stone or timber running on beneath the bath complete the picture.

An alcove gives the opposite pleasure: shelter. A freestanding bath set into a recess feels enclosed and calm. Many freestanding baths are around 170 cm long and 75 to 80 cm wide, so an alcove a little larger than that, with space on each side to clean, frames the bath without crowding it.

Give a bath room to breathe, and it becomes the quietest sculpture in the house.

Comfort in the details

A bath is lain in, not only looked at, so sit in one before you choose it. The back slope decides how you rest: a gentle angle supports the spine and lets the shoulders sink, while a more upright end suits reading. The height of the rim decides how easily you step in and out, and a rolled, rounded edge is kinder to the neck and arms than a sharp one.

Then give the bath a companion. A small stool or a side table within reach holds a book, a glass of water or a candle, and a wooden bath bridge laid across the rim does the same over the water. A thick mat in cotton or linen and a towel warmed on a rail nearby make stepping out as pleasant as stepping in.

Over the years the bath settles into the life of the house. Its enamel or stone will gather the light of different hours, its copper will slowly deepen and its cypress will grow silken with use. On a winter evening, with the water steaming and the room lit low, it becomes what it was always meant to be: a sculpture you can step inside.

Questions and answers

How much space does a freestanding bath need?

Many freestanding baths are around 170 cm long and 75 to 80 cm wide. Add enough space on every side to clean behind and around the bath with ease, and allow room to step in and out comfortably, with a towel and a stool within reach.

Can any floor carry a freestanding bath?

A filled bath is heavy, since water alone weighs about one kilogram per litre, and cast iron or solid stone add considerably more. Ask a structural engineer to confirm the floor before ordering, especially in an older house or on an upper storey, so any reinforcement can be planned in good time.

Should the taps stand on the floor or on the wall?

Taps standing on the floor suit a bath in the middle of the room, since they leave the walls clear and sit exactly where the bather reaches. Wall-mounted taps suit a bath beneath a window or in an alcove. Both need their pipes, waste and overflow planned before the floor is laid.

Terms in this article

Roll-top bath

A freestanding bath, traditionally of enamelled cast iron, whose rim curls outwards into a rounded lip.

Vitreous enamel

A glassy coating fused onto metal at high temperature, giving a smooth, hard and easily cleaned surface.

Hinoki

A fragrant Japanese cypress, long used for deep soaking tubs in which the bather sits upright.

All terms in the glossary

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