Like the kitchen downstairs, the loft's master bathroom draws natural light from a single source—this time from the window wall in the adjacent bedroom. A double-wide doorway with a frosted glass sliding door facilitates the flow.
Material and design choices were driven by the desire to increase lighting while maintaining privacy. A frosted glass partition blocks views to the toilet, and a 3-foot-by-9-foot translucent, pivoting-glass panel protects the shower without fully enclosing it. To bring additional light into the space, McKinney eliminated doors from bath to closet. For the shower and adjacent tub, she designed a grid of light-reflecting tiles in various sizes. The tactic, she says, breaks up the expanse of the aqua-hued glass and creates an interesting pattern. “It was quite a puzzle to always get an outside edge on the corners,” she says, “but it was worth it.”
As is her usual practice with any project, McKinney used low- or no-VOC paints here and throughout the loft. It's a good thing, too, because her building's ownership rules ban toxic finishes. “So many companies offer low-VOC products now that it's irresponsible not to use them,” she says.
