Architect George Ostrow Creates a Great Green Bathroom

Architect George Ostrow turned a former storage space into a gracious, green and wheel-chair accessible bathroom.

Nothing succeeds like success. After neighbors spied his renovation gone very right at another house on their Wallingford block, they approached George Ostrow, of the sustainability-focused Seattle firm VELOCIPEDE architects (206.529.9356; velocipede.net), with a conversion challenge. In order to ease one homeowner’s mobility issues, and as part of a bigger remodeling project done in partnership with builder LastingNest (lastingnest.biz), they wanted him to transform the garage and a tiny adjacent storage space in their 1914 Craftsman into an eco-chic master suite.

Ostrow’s response is a nifty wheel-chair accessible bedroom and bath, complete with a roll-in shower, that not only addressed the owner’s practical needs, but captured a 2010 design award from the Master Builders Association. To green up the bathroom, formerly a catch-all for bicycles and lawn equipment, Ostrow used locally fabricated Novustone recycled countertops (novustone.com) and recycled glass mosaic tile from Ambiente Tile (ambientetile.com) for the tub apron. Salvaged old-growth Douglas fir shutters were custom fit to open up to the master bedroom next door, creating the room connection that the homeowners desired.

And just like that, two cluttered, unremarkable spaces became one more great success. 

Before its bathroom rebirth, this small storage space was the cluttered repository for bikes and lawn gear. The new bathroom features recycled countertops from Novustone.