Hilary Scully of architecture Smith + Scully designed this house in the Auckland suburb of Epsom for a family of five.

The bathrooms – a guest, family and ensuite – and a family-sized laundry room all share a great deal of attention to detail and finishing quality. The guest room and laundry are on the ground floor. They both have glass mosaic tiles on the wall that are a cool palette of mushroom brown and pale green.

The laundry is a generous working space, with a large bench along one wall and hidden cabinets on the other. These are for all the usual laundry storage but also for storing each family member’s laundered clothes until they are collected by their owner. A laundry chute across the hall makes sure said family member’s laundry makes it to the room easily.

The family bathroom is upstairs, located between mirrored bedrooms occupied by the clients’ sons. It is the twin of the guest bathroom in the use of materials. It has the mosaic tiles from downstairs and a luxurious large tile that is cream with a texture which gives it a linen-like look. The guest bathroom has similar tiles that have a slightly different woven finish.

The ensuite bathroom is a change of pace from the others with a mix of textured white and slick black tiles. The clients wanted this room to be a bit different and sought out fine fixtures like the long, lean washplane. This doesn’t provide any opportunity to clutter up the sink edge with toothpaste and the like, but Scully has taken care of that with hidden cabinets behind the mirror.

The shower is a large walk-in space lined with white tiles that have a highly textured finish. These create a sparkling shimmer in the light. The light pours into the shower from a skylight and a tall triangular window. In this room you can listen to the radio, piped in from a panel above the shower, while you prepare for the day.