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FAST FACTS ABOUT THIS PROJECT MASTER DESIGN SOLUTIONS SQUARE FOOTAGE BEFORE: 36 sq. ft. bathroom SQUARE FOOTAGE AFTER: 115 sq. ft. bathroom LOCATION: Spokane, Wash. Hanson says options to remodel within the existing space and expand into an adjacent guest bedroom were discussed and then discarded. Despite the homeowners' initial shock at the county's denial of the first plan, they quickly jumped onboard with the new direction. "Our client believed in us. And so when Ryan, our architect, said, 'The master suite will look this way,' it wasn't questioned. They had a strong belief in what we were doing," Hanson recalls. The project was revised to work with the existing space, staking out where the pipeline was in the backyard to use every available inch. Hanson says, "When we found [the original addition] couldn't be done that was OK, because in some ways we came up with a plan that made us work a little harder." The result was a 115-sq.-ft. six-cornered addition with a "stepped" exterior design that was mirrored in the interior (see top photo below). REMODELER: Hanson Carlen Construction, Spokane had to be strong enough to support the 400-lb. Kenyan marble countertop. The emphasis on the details, big and small, is evident in how the cabinets are "stepped" to coordinate with the interior and exterior "steps" of the addition. The drawers of the cabinets are illuminated with low-voltage LED lighting. The towel bars are heated and controlled by timers to turn on in the mornings. They are heated using hydronic heat, not electric, which is not typical, Hanson says. The entire bathroom features hydronic heating, which required the installation of "Details that Matter" Jonathan Pece The custom-made maple cabinets mirror the "stepped" design of the exterior walls and do not touch the floor to keep with the room's modern European flair. big addition, the project hit a snag when the county vetoed the plans because the proposed addition straddled a 10-ft.-wide utility easement. So, Hanson Carlen Construction was forced to start the design phase from scratch. The needs for the new design remained the same, but conceptually the designers had to change their thinking. The firm's design-build capabilities allowed the remodeler the benefit of working directly with the architect to ensure the new space met function, design and budget goals. With a final design in place, Hanson says the goal became to add "tons of little details that created an overall feeling when you walked into the room like, 'Wow, this has really been thought through,' and so there were a lot of fun things that we enjoyed doing." With a build time of approximately four months, the design-build firm commenced on the project that is described as having a modern European flair. To achieve this style, the bathroom was designed with none of its elements touching the floor. The toilet sits off the floor thanks to a hidden wall-mount system, and the custom maple cabinets were made in Hanson Carlen Construction's cabinet shop. It is difficult to buy "off-the-shelf" cabinetry that fits specific spaces, Hanson says, so it made sense for the remodelers to make the cabinets themselves. The cabinets were designed to attach solely to the wall to achieve the floating look but Hydronically heated towel bars run on timers and a mini-mechanical room was installed in the basement for all the hydronic elements. ForResidentialPros.com QR July 2013 21