Residence of Designer Tess Giuliani – A ‘Magical Reality’ Using a Geberit Concealed Installation System

Residence of Designer Tess Giuliani

New Jersey

Giuliani’s design vision extended to the floor, which is painted as a continuous sea of water with swimming Koi fish.

Positioning herself as a beauty aficionado is no accident for Tess Giuliani. Educated in the U.S. and abroad, her fascination with world cultures spans a lifetime of absorbing what is around her and then transforming it into objects of beauty. Giuliani’s journey – from becoming the first woman jeweler for Cartier New York to receiving the prestigious Viking Inc. Award as the first Featured Designer of Distinction in America – has brought national acclaim to her work, allowing her to emerge as a designer’s designer. So when she decided she wanted to live on water in her New Jersey home, and  it wasn’t happening fast enough, she transformed her less-than-55-square-foot bathroom into something, well, magical, using all of the skills she had acquired over the years.

The Challenge

“I wanted a bathroom that gave the feeling of an elegant powder room,” Giuliani says, “but with all the amenities of a full bath. When I was a designer in Tokyo, my apartment overlooked a beautiful Japanese garden. It was calming and peaceful. This garden and the many serene gardens I visited throughout Japan were my inspiration for this project.”

Discreetly positioned on the first floor as part of an addition to her home, the bathroom’s tight space required all of her creativity to achieve her vision. That vision takes a fresh breath of life on the floor, which is painted as a continuous sea of water with swimming Koi fish.

The Solution

The Geberit System allows everything else in the bathroom to take center stage: the floor, the lighting, the vanity.

“Geberit was the perfect solution for several reasons when it came to the fixture,” Giuliani says. “Of course, the first was the limited space. With the tank in the wall, the toilet becomes very discreet and entirely opens up the room. The floor – where my Koi swim – is easily seen because the toilet is off the floor, which is enabled by the Geberit concealed tank and carrier. Nothing touches this floor except the shower in this room. Aesthetically, Geberit was the perfect solution, giving the bathroom a clean, warm, and Asian flair.”

The Geberit Concealed Tank and Carrier System allows this kind of flexibility in design. The frame system, as demonstrated in the Giuliani design, can be used in the tightest of spaces, producing stunning bathrooms without compromise. Because the carrier includes an integral toilet tank located behind the wall, the decorative flush actuator plate attached to the wall is the only visible component of the Geberit system.

“The actuator plates are removable for maintenance access to the concealed tank and flushing mechanism. The plumber who installed it was particularly delighted at this,” Giuliani points out. Installation of the carrier involved placing it within the studwork and then attaching it to the studs and floor – only four connections in all. The Geberit in-wall carriers have been tested to hold up to 880 lbs.

“Geberit allows everything else in my bathroom to take center stage,” she explains. These elements include the cherry and teak countertop, the lighting underneath the vanity, and the artwork on the floor, custom-painted in a fresco technique on 12″ x 12″ honed limestone tiles by long-time friend and artist Ornella Muth.

“We’ve worked together for many years, and when you walk into my bathroom, there is the magical reality of walking on water,” Giuliani adds. “I wanted my mural on the floor exposed, and taking the toilet off the floor, well, gives me maximum exposure.” Each day, Giuliani gets her wish: she walks on water and continues to draw inspiration from the beauty she has created in her home. To see Giuliani’s design portfolio, visit www.tessgiuliani.com.

“The Geberit System is flexible –there are almost no obstacles to design freedom when choosing the placement of bathroom fixtures,” explains Ronn Jefferson, product marketing manager for Geberit North America. “The design possibilities are endless, even under a window or a pitched roof, the in-wall tank and wall-hung toilet can go where you want them to go.” The Geberit An Oasis at Home brochure presents the flexible options.

Concept Design: Tess Giuliani

Floor Artist: Ornella Muth