London’s One Tower Bridge is Outfitting its Luxe Baths with Tubs Made of… Wood?

These days, marble bathtubs have pretty much become run-of-the-mill in high-end homes. One of London’s newest luxury residential developments, however, stands to shatter that standard.

One Tower Bridge has recently announced its partnership with Alegna, a Swiss design firm that specializes in crafting dream bathrooms… out of wood. The luxury development has charged the innovative company with outfitting 36 luxe apartments and three penthouse duplex apartments located in the Tower’s Cambridge House with their posh vessels, which come with complementary fitted wall and ceiling elements and cost about €14,000 (roughly $19,000) a pop.

Now before you scoff at the idea of combining water with a notoriously permeable and erodible material, chew on this: Alegna uses an intricate technique to render them utterly water resistant. Real wood veneers are compressed together under high pressure, then soaked in a synthetic resin, a special varnish meant to prevent the wood from absorbing any liquid and deteriorating due to water damage.

The treatment—which Alegna claims has been tested under the harshest conditions—makes the bathtubs super durable and easy to maintain. According to the company, small scratches that may appear after years of use can easily be polished away by hand.

The stylish tubs can be made from every kind of wood imaginable, including Walnut, Mahogany, Pear, Iroko, Oak, and Wenge. To boot, its manufacturer asserts that only certified wood derived from forests with controlled felling and reforestation is used, arguably making the product “eco-friendly.”

Photos and details courtesy of Pursuitist and Alegna