I first got to know San Francisco architect Malcolm Davis of Malcolm Davis Architecture when he designed my friend Berry’s house (coincidentally, years earlier I had ripped out one of his projects from a magazine). The bathrooms, which are light, airy, and full of well-considered details.
Photograph from California Idyll: A Pitched-Roof Midcentury Revival with Dramatic Valley Views.
Malcolm Davis: When someone comes to me, they usually know what bathrooms I design; there’s always some sense of the outdoors and as much daylight as possible.
What do your clients typically ask for in a bathroom?
When clients start looking at imagery, I ask them to think of their house as the best version of what they want it to be and what look will go with that in the bathroom, as opposed to their dream bathroom.
A marble-clad shower with an obscure-glass (frosted) door that opens onto a wooden roof deck and a small window looking onto the trees outside.
MD: If I have any way of getting daylight into the bathroom, I do it. It’s important to have a visual link to the outdoors; it’s neat to have some clear glimpse of the outside, even if it is just one panel of a window where you can see a tree outside or a skylight where a bird flies overhead.
How do you manage to make your bathrooms so light and airy?
A walk-in shower in California Idyll: A Pitched-Roof Midcentury Revival with Dramatic Valley Views.
What’s your approach to design?
MD: I like some bandwidth in the bathroom. The bathroom has to provide a good backdrop, and not work against you.
MD: I use simple, nice materials and work with a limited palette. If the surfaces feel too hard and shiny, it can feel too perfect.
How do you create a serene backdrop?
A Davis-designed bathroom at the Cook residence in SF.
MD: I like hidden storage (there’s something about having a million little cupboards that looks overwhelming). I like to put a recess in the shower and I try and integrate towel bars to feel built in.
What about storage?
Davis favors plain ceramic tiles in a running bond pattern, as shown here in the Bole project, as opposed to stacked.
MD: A bathroom is going to last for a long time, so I like to keep it simple. When it comes to materials, I always question whether it will last for a long time.
What materials do you use?
MD: A tabletop is at thirty inches, so the sink needs to be higher so you don’t have to bend over so much.
What height is best for the counter or vanity?
In this 21st Street project, Davis notes, “I use porches a lot in my mental vocabulary, where people may think that this could have been an outdoor space that has been closed.”
MD: Industrial-looking Stonco lighting is my go-to.
What lighting is best?
What are your favorite fixtures?
Duravit sinks are a favorite, and the Dornbracht Tara line is super classic, although sometimes it can be a challenge to get the hot and cold taps to line up straight.
Davis’s 28th Street project.
Anything else to note?
MD: Bathrooms don’t have to be huge. And for more expert advice on bathrooms.