Project — Accessibility
A dated family bathroom converted for aging in place: reinforced grab bars, a low-threshold tub with a hand shower on a slide bar, slip-rated flooring and lever hardware — wrapped in large-format terrazzo so it still reads as a design bathroom, not a clinic.
Location
Ottawa, Ontario
Category
Accessibility conversion
Scope
Blocking, plumbing, tile, fixtures, hardware, lighting
Year
2025
Duration
Approximately 3 weeks
The brief
The original washroom had a high tub wall, a fixed shower head, glossy floor tile and nothing in the walls to anchor support hardware. Every one of those is a fall risk, and none of them are fixed by screwing a bar into drywall.
A bathroom a parent could use independently — supported transfers, seated bathing, reachable controls — that still looked like it belonged in a renovated home rather than a care facility.
The build
Accessibility is built into the wall cavity, not added to the finished surface. Every support point was blocked, every fixture height set against how the room is actually used, and the finishes chosen last.
Walls were opened and continuous plywood blocking installed behind the tub deck, the transfer point and the toilet wall, so support hardware anchors into structure and is rated for real weight — not into tile and a hollow cavity.
A low-wall tub with an integrated seat edge, a hand shower on a vertical slide bar, a rain head above, and a pressure-balanced lever valve mounted at the outside edge — reachable from standing or seated, and from outside the tub while running the water.
A matte-black looped transfer bar at the tub entry and a horizontal bar on the toilet wall — both spec grab bars, both chosen to read as fixtures. The looped profile gives a natural hand position for standing and sitting, not just a straight rail.
Slip-rated plank tile runs level with no threshold, a comfort-height toilet sits with clear side transfer space, the door swings out, and recessed lighting plus a bright wall switch remove the shadows that make edges hard to read.
Details
Outcome
Independent, supported use of the bathroom — and a room the family is happy to show people. Accessibility done at renovation time costs a fraction of retrofitting after a fall.
See more of our work“Accessible doesn't have to look accessible. It has to be there when someone reaches for it.”
Start your renovation
Tell us who's using the room and how — we'll come back with a plan, a scope and a firm quote.
We typically respond within one business day.
