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Splinter Works' Vessel takes bathing to new heights

By Jonathan Fincher
June 24, 2013
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Splinter Works' Vessel is an unusual bathtub constructed from a carbon fiber weave
The designers are also offering custom sizes and a drainpipe option if needed, but that's not the full style they're going for
The Vessel has been designed specifically for a wet room, so ideally it would need a space for its 2.7 x 0.8 m (8.9 x 2.6 ft) frame to fit directly over a floor drain
The center of the carbon fiber layers also contains a foam core to insulate it and keep the water from cooling too quickly
As you might imagine, installing the Vessel can be a bit tricky
The Vessel has been designed specifically for a wet room, so ideally it would need a space for its 2.7 x 0.8 m (8.9 x 2.6 ft) frame to fit directly over a floor drain
The designers are also offering custom sizes and a drainpipe option if needed, but that's not the full style they're going for
Splinter Works' Vessel is an unusual bathtub constructed from a carbon fiber weave
Design group Splinter Works' latest piece of furniture, the Vessel, is a sleek-looking bathtub suspended in the air like a hammock
The tub will also have to anchor onto two opposite walls with stainless steel brackets and have a standing tap installed over it to provide water
Splinter Works constructed its unusual bathtub from a carbon fiber weave, which is strong enough to hold a person and water while still giving the Vessel its smooth curves
Design group Splinter Works' latest piece of furniture, the Vessel, is a sleek-looking bathtub suspended in the air like a hammock
Splinter Works is offering the Vessel right now in black, red, blue, yellow, pink, bronze, and silver color schemes
Design group Splinter Works' latest piece of furniture, the Vessel, is a sleek-looking bathtub suspended in the air like a hammock
View gallery - 13 images

If you asked people to name the most relaxing pieces of furniture they can think of, you'd probably have quite a few mentioning hammocks and bathtubs. So you might think that combining the two into one item should yield an exceptionally relaxing experience. That's just what UK-based design group Splinter Works is aiming for with its latest piece. Called the Vessel, it is a sleek-looking bathtub that is suspended in the air like a hammock.

Splinter Works constructed its unusual bathtub from a carbon fiber weave, which is strong enough to hold a person and water while still giving the Vessel its smooth curves. The center of the carbon fiber layers also contains a foam core to insulate it and keep the water from cooling too quickly.

As you might imagine, installing the Vessel can be a bit tricky. It's been designed specifically for a wet room, so ideally it would need a space for its 2.7 x 0.8 m (8.9 x 2.6 ft) frame to fit directly over a floor drain. The tub anchors onto two opposite walls with stainless steel brackets and requires a standing tap installed over it to provide water. The designers are also offering custom sizes and a drainpipe option if needed, but that's not the full style they're going for.

Design group Splinter Works' latest piece of furniture, the Vessel, is a sleek-looking bathtub suspended in the air like a hammock

The Vessel does look like it would be comfortable once you're in it. But as any cartoon character will tell you, it's the getting in and out of a hammock that's the hard part. Even if the Vessel won't sway like a hammock, applying a hammock-like design to a bathtub, something which isn't known for its ease of ingress and egress either, and you could have a recipe for disaster, or at least some less than graceful bathtub exits. Still, it could all be worth it just to find out what it's like to bathe while seemingly floating in mid-air.

Splinter Works is offering the Vessel right now in black, red, blue, yellow, pink, bronze, and silver color schemes. No info on pricing has been revealed, but considering it's being offered as a limited edition luxury item, don't expect it to be cheap.

Source: Splinter Works

View gallery - 13 images

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Around The HomeLuxuryBathroomFurnitureCarbon FiberBathHammocks
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Jonathan Fincher
Jonathan grew up in Norway, China, and Trinidad before graduating film school and becoming an online writer covering green technology, history and design, as well as contributing to video game news sites like Filefront and 1Up. He currently resides in Texas, where his passions include video games, comics, and boring people who don't want to talk about either of those things.
14 comments
Sam Sams
The water will just be in the middle though! Same a sitting in a bucket. I can't see water in any of the pictures. How are you going to wash your feet!
martinkopplow
Pretty cool! Might even save a bit water compared to the traditional tub, and yes Sam, my knees are flexible enough to wash my feet, that's for sure.
I'd buy one if I just had two walls at the exact distance required ...
Georges Pauly
You will be sitting on the water outlet. What about getting out of a hammock, can you expect the same problems here ?
Keith Lamb
You'd have to put some massive reinforcement into the walls to support the weight without pulling them inward. As far as getting in and out, it would be easier than a hammock since it wouldn't swing, but I'd still want it lower to the ground in case I did fall.
maxmwill
It's a bathtub, it's a hammock; it's a hathtub.
JPAR
I like to put my shoulders under in the bath - can't see that being possible in this lah-dee-dah design. Over styled simply for the sake of it - classic design should mean classic functionality.
Leavond
Simple, yet innovative, very cool. A caveat should be posted about bathing at your own risk...for the out of shape patrons. For not much more cost, I would be tempted to rig up a slide to disembark.
sk8dad
This would be more useful to the kids for playing with their finger-sized skateboards than actual bathing. Plus anyone who's spent extended time in a hammock knows the most comfortable position to sleep in one is diagonally which minimizes the curvature. Can't do here clearly.
ADVENTUREMUFFIN
Nice design-looks to use less water than a normal bathtub as well-quite a bit less from the looks of it. An important aspect in our water stressed world.
tigerprincess
I am a plumber of 30 years experience. I have seen over the years that bathtubs are less and less used but people still want them to maintain the value of their home. I believe that this tub could be a solution. By creating brackets that this tub could hang from that would allow the tub to be taken down and put up with a locking mechanism to keep it in place. You could put brackets at different heights on the wall and use the shower stall for both tub and shower and the shower valve as the water supply for both the shower and removable tub. The shower head would be on an adjustable slide bar allowing for it too be raised high for showers and lowered for filling tub and hand held for personal preference spray. Many people would see the utility of this system.
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