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This ofuro in asnaro wood is going to be installed in place of a shower box in a renovation project in Switzerland.

The client carefully planned the layout so you can look out from the window while sitting in the tub.

It is difficult to understand just by seeing the picture, but the “feet” of the tub are on the short side instead of the long side (as usual). Being the tub is a long and narrow niche, the short side will be the front so it makes sense to use this detail both aesthetically and maintenance wise.

This point deserves a clarification.

Basically, the feet (sleepers) also have a structural function in stiffening the bottom plank so usually we cannot place them on the short sides. There are 2 exceptions:

• We use thicker wood for the planks so that the bottom does not need additional framing. Here is an example. This detail can add considerably to the cost, especially if combined with a 90 degrees corners detail. As opposed to the standard T shaped corner.
• The tub is reasonably small. Which is the case in this Zurich example. In this case there is no extra cost involved.

View of the mesmerizing interior of the ofuro!

Here are the specs:

material: natural Japanese Asnaro AB grade bathtub (quarter sawn)

size: L900mm x W700 x H690mm (ext. dim.) – depth 600mm

details: copper apron,  wood dowels. Iron brand at front side top-left

A Japanese living in Hong Kong kindly coordinated on behalf of the owner the order or a large hinoki tub for a residence.

The installation will be in a ledge so the also supplied the external panels to be mounted on site.

Yoshiyaki is now holding the front panel to show how to position it. I am skipping the photos of the other sides…

Here are the pictures of how it looks before inatallation, with a double shell construction,

the other side will be recessed in a tiled ledge.

since the tub top frame is recessed on one side to direct the overflow in this direction, we added a base on one side to the cover planks.

Finally, here are the specs:

Material: Hinoki wood AB grade tub
Size: L2000mm x W1000 x H1050mm (ext. dim.) 930mm(depth)
Details: wooden dowel, copper under apron, iron brand at front top-right over flow top cut,
Options: Apron boards panels (supplied separately)
1) Short side: 960 x 508 x 25t
2) foront side: 2000 x 508 x 20t
3) back side: 150 x 508 x 20t
Hinoki wood a removable internal seat W400mm

Accessories:
Hinoki wood traditional cover 1020*x200x21 (10pcs)
Hinoki wood traditional stool (300x180x200H):
Sawara wood ladle with handle (180D 290H)
Sawara wood large bucket（230D　120H）

The client is going to replace his previous american made wooden tub which is leaking.
The tub is recessed in the ground so this tub matches the size exactly.
(Of course wood swells and contracts according to the seasons and air humidity so the dimensions allow for some clearance.)

I think we exchanged 3 mails with the client: he had some questions about the thickness of the planks and the corner joint construction to compare with his present tub.
It was very pleasant to deal with him as his words were precise (even without using specialized terms) and his purpose was clear. I imagine he is very busy businessman but very efficient with his time.
This inspires me to be more focused and calm when taking decisions!

1)About the issue of the thickness of the planks, I added a FAQ which I hope may be of reference to those of you with the same doubt. -> https://bartokdesign.com/9-faqcomment/about-the-thickness-of-planks.php

2)For the latter, I addressed him to our videos corner in the “reference” section: https://youtu.be/ZDesC_Bk4iA

And here are the specs for this project:

material: natural Japanese Hinoki AB grade bathtub (quarter sawn)
sizes: L1219mm x W660 x H710mm (ext. dim.) – depth 620mm
details: nat. oil apron, wood dowels. Iron brand on both sides
options: Hinoki wood traditional cover 680x203x18 (6pcs)

Let me post here again a technical note about our mail server: we had some mail problems: for some reason, some emails I send to hotmail or gmail accounts are rejected without error messages. (I wonder if it is a keyword-based spam filter: some mails get thru, some don`t…). I am working on it. Meanwhile, if you are having problems in reaching us: please use my alternative mail address: iax1213 at gmail com.