Starlit Turkish Spa

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Project Description

A home spa, built to feel like the hammams they remembered.

After honeymooning in Turkey, the homeowners returned with memories of open-air steam, relaxation, and lingering heat. They brought those memories to Cox Tile Inc. and asked, “Can we build something like this at home?”

They could, but it would take precision and a lot of hands-on problem-solving.

Cox built the steam room from scratch, waterproofing the walls with foam, then using cement block, brass and stainless rods, and hand-shaped forms for the structure. A soaking tub sits at one end. A flat bench runs along the wall. Between them is a custom lounger, shaped to match the homeowner’s reclined position with precision. Each curve was shaped, tested, and adjusted by hand until it fit just right.

Most of the work was completed before the first tile was even laid. Installers cut forms, shaped mud, and tested angles. The lounger took several tries to get right. The contraction and expansion of the radius and angles of the lounger required skillful finesse to create the perfect joint spacing that matched the rest of the installation. With the forms finished, the crew turned to lighting. LED strips were tucked beneath the bench and lounger for a soft floor glow. Utilizing fiber optics and dizzying ingenuity, 400 hairlike filaments in three different diameters were methodically disbursed into zones throughout the 63 square foot barreled ceiling. The change in planes from the ceiling entry points to the surface of the ceiling, across the curved expanse of the ceiling, then peeking out of the grout joints between the tiles had to be accomplished with expert care to avoid crimping or bending the fiber optic filaments. The lights were threaded through the ceiling’s porcelain mosaics and buried just below the grout to create a nighttime sky effect. Crimping a strand would kill the glow. Every move had to be exact.

Tile that gave the hammam its form, its beauty, and its endurance, achieving a spa-like heaven on earth.