It's an interesting disconnect, the way the industry gives the outdoor shower such short shrift. One could argue there's a grand missed opportunity in promoting and selling showers that exist in the landscape, or at least outside the walls of the home.
One on hand, given that ours is a business that focuses on humans submerging themselves in water that they more often than not share with others doing the same thing, there's without question a hygienic aspect to the concept. As wellness becomes more of a focus for the industry, especially where hydrotherapy is concerned, and that many hot tubs/spas are relatively small bodies of water, it only makes sense to suggest people rinse off before and after they take a dip.
There's no doubt the same goes for pools for much of the same reason. It also bears mentioning that many commercial pools, as well as pampering spas and public baths in Europe and Asia, require patrons rinse off before entering the water.
In addition, outdoor showers represent a useful product category that retailers and builders alike could embrace. Even the briefest perusing online reveals a host of off-the-shelf showers that can be easily installed and sold at a spectrum of price points. For custom projects, outdoor shower areas further represent another design element, another outdoor "room" that can be as elaborate, or simple, or private or not, as anything else in the home's exterior.
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As for the hot water aspect, certainly not all outdoor showers have hot water, though is there really any doubt that those that do are far more likely to be used on a more regular basis?
Perhaps the most important benefit, however, is that these essential amenities, when created with care and sensitivity to the clients' needs and tastes, can become a major source of routine enjoyment.
For example, several years ago I interviewed a famous author of children's book who lives in Florida. I was ghostwriting a book for a landscape architect and spoke to a number of his satisfied clients.
Part of her project, which included a gorgeous pool, spa and several water features, was a stunningly beautiful outdoor shower area that was designed as an extension of the master bathroom. It was all decked out in stone, lush plantings, artistic touches and gorgeous fixtures, and it was entirely private. In true writer fashion, this particular wordsmith regaled me with the joy she felt in showering outside on a daily basis and how the outdoor shower was far and away her favorite place, not only in the landscape, but in the entire home.
Granted, she did live in an extremely warm climate where bathing outside is almost certainly more enjoyable than in colder climes, but nonetheless her impassioned diatribe surprised me. She loved how the outdoor shower didn't steam up the bathroom and also, without putting to fine a point it, how "audaciously liberating" it felt to bathe outside.
The upshot was that she regarded her landscape architect as a genius for providing her and her husband with a type of experience they hadn't previously considered, one that they loved indulging almost everyday. As a result, she referred him to a number of her other equally affluent friends, some of whom put the outdoor shower on the top of the their wish lists.
Without doubt, outdoor showers are not for everyone, but making them available, both from a health and luxury perspective, might just represent yet another healthful and enjoyable way to keep homeowners both clean and in some cases, enormously happy.
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