Space Saving Shower Enclosures Explained

An Introduction To Space Saving Shower Enclosures

If your bathroom is on the smaller or side, or you wish to fill it chock full of fixtures and furniture, then a space saving shower is the best way to ensure you get the hygiene you need without eating into your precious floor space.

But what exactly makes a shower “space saving” and how can you pick the right one for you?

Well dear reader, it’s simple, you read this article.

Let’s break it down!

The Best Location For A Space Saving Shower

First of all, you need to decide where on Earth in your bathroom you are going to fit a shower. If you are low on space, this could be quite the difficult choice, but it doesn’t have to be. The optimum place for your shower if you are looking to save space is the corner of the room.

This is because you can reduce the typically three panelled shower enclosure to a two panelled shower enclosure, which immediately takes up less space, as the bathroom walls can be used in place of the shower enclosure walls. Plus, this uses up typically dead space, freeing up regularly used space in the bathroom for alternate uses.

The Best Shapes For Spacesaver Shower Enclosures

So, now you know you’re putting the shower in the corner, but which shower are you putting in the corner? In our professional opinion, there are two clear choices. The pentagonal shower enclosure and the quadrant shower enclosure, let’s look at them both in depth.

Pentagonal Shower Enclosure

A pentagonal shower enclosure, often misspelled as “pentangle shower enclosure”, is a shower that fits into the corner and features two angled glass panels and a glass door between them. Combining these three sides with the two corners of the wall, you get a pentagon, hence the name.

This design looks stylish, modern and angular, making it perfect for both an entrepreneur’s apartment and a modern family’s home alike.  It also saves a lot of space by essentially cutting the corners off of a square shower enclosure. Because it is typical to stand in the centre of the shower while using it, losing the corners of the enclosure doesn’t affect the experience of using a shower much at all. However, it means the world for those navigating the outside of the shower, as it frees up a lot of dead space, allowing for increased manoeuvrability and furnishings.

Quadrant Shower Enclosure

Similarly, a quadrant shower enclosure utilised curved glass panes and doors to cut off the corners of the typical square enclosure. This tactic looks modern and flowing, perfect for a bubblier and lighter aesthetic. Much like the pentagonal shower enclosure, the space lost within the quadrant shower enclosure is minimal, while the space gained outside of it is great. Our 1000 x 1000 quadrant shower enclosure is a great example of this, as it provides an excellent amount of room in the shower, without taking up much outside of the shower.

The Best Size For Space Saving Shower Enclosures

Naturally, if you want to save the most space possible, you need to go for the smallest enclosure possible. For that, we recommend the 700 x 700 pentagonal shower enclosure or 700 x 700 quadrant shower enclosure. However, you don’t necessarily have to go as small as possible.

Because you have saved so much space by locating your shower in the corner and by installing a quadrant or pentagon shower, you will be finding yourself with copious amounts of extra space, meaning if you want to treat yourself to a slightly larger shower enclosure, such as our pentagonal shower enclosure 1000 x 1000mm, then you can.

We recommend our 900 x 900 pentagonal shower enclosure or our 900 x 900 quadrant shower enclosure with hinged door. If you are truly looking to make use of your newly acquired space, then you could go for our luxurious 1000mm pentagonal shower enclosure to grant yourself as much space and accessibility as possible.

The Best Shower Doors For Spacesaver Shower Enclosures

Once you have your enclosure decided on, you need to decide on your shower door. It is worth keeping in mind that not every door will fit every enclosure, so double check before committing to a door.

Bi-Fold Shower Door

A bi-fold door features multiple hinges that allow it to collapse to the side, completely eliminating door swing which can take precious space out of your bathroom. Because of this, the bi-fold shower door is perfect for saving you space in the shower and the bathroom.

Sliding Shower Door

But what if you want a more minimalist and modern looking door? Easy! Invest in a sliding shower door. Just like the bi-fold door, sliding doors completely remove the possibility of door swing which takes space out of your bathroom and makes the shower harder to access. As well as this, a sliding door is easy to use and extremely modern looking. Just make sure you don’t forget to clean the rail!

The Best Shower Trays For Space Saving Shower Enclosures

It is incredibly important that you install the shower tray that matches the size and shape of your enclosure, so for example if you have a 900 x 900 quadrant shower enclosure, then you need a 900 x 900 quadrant shower tray. Outside of this, there is a way you can save a bit more space however. You can install your tray as flush, or in some cases install a linear floor drain. By having your tray or drain flush to the floor, you save a bit of vertical space, in case you have low ceilings, but also you save a bit of extra floor space, as there will be no shower tray lip present. It’s not a massive space saver, but combined with your other methods, it adds up!

Other Methods Of Maximising Space

Now that we understand the nuances of spacesaver showers, let’s quickly look at other methods you can employ in the bathroom to compliment your space saving shower and maximise your space to the best of your ability.

Walk In Shower Screens

A walk in shower could be a fun alternative to your traditional shower enclosure and one that saves you a lot of space. This is because you only need one piece of glass, a walk in shower screen, to make a walk in shower enclosure. This not only saves you a lot of glass, but also a lot of space in the bathroom, as you can combine your screen with a linear floor drain to customize your shower size to pretty much whatever you want.

Floor Plans

This is a simple step, but an important one that not everyone takes. Drawing a to scale floor plan can help you visualise and plan in an intricate manner that is extremely difficult without a floor plan. Simply measure out your space and draw a proportionate top down view on graph paper. You can then pencil in all of your fixtures and furniture and use the remaining space to plan how you can fit what you want into your bathroom.

Micro Fixtures

Replacing your fixtures with micro fixtures, such as micro basins will create a lot of space which gives you more options for your shower installation. Combining this plan with your other space saving techniques can give you a lot of room in your bathroom.

Hybrid Fixtures

Hybrid fixtures combine two or more fixtures into one. This is perfect for saving. For example, if you install a toilet with a sink on top instead of separate toilet and a sink, you free up a extreme amount of space as your two mandatory fixtures now occupy the same space. This gives you a lot more room to install whatever shower you like, even a 1000mm pentagonal shower enclosure.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this new found information has given you the tools necessary to understand how to install the shower of your dreams, while saving as much space as possible. For more space saving tips, check out our guide to small bathrooms.

Oh, and remember, it’s “pentagonal”. A “Pentangle Shower Enclosure” would be a star shape.