Hi all,

I am having trouble determining how/whether the necessary plumbing can be circumvented around a shower niche and am getting conflicting advice.

I am planning to have a contractor tile a new bathtub/shower surround. I'd love to have a niche like in the attached picture (though likely not as tall), with two or three shelves. The problem is that two of the three walls are also exterior walls with simple 2x4 framing. I assume that adding a niche to an exterior wall would not permit the necessary insulation in that space, which would leave a pretty big thermal bridge, create a cold spot (in an area you really don't want to be cold) and possibly create a condensation problem (though please correct me if I'm wrong). Assuming that's the case, the only possible wall for the niche is the wall with the bath and shower fixtures (which we plan to replace).

The tub itself is fairly narrow as it's a beautiful old original, so the wall portion in question is only about 26 inches wide. The only way I can see the niche fitting is above the shower handle/tub faucet but below the shower head (which will be fairly high as will be a rain shower). That's not currently possible with the existing plumbing, which runs straight up to the shower head in between the studs where I envision the shower niche. Is it possible to have the plumbing connecting the shower handle/tub faucet and the shower head bend around such a niche? Or to have two 90 degree turns in the plumbing so that it goes around the niche? In either scenario the plumbing would likely need to pass through a stud twice, as the niche would take up all the space between the two studs where the fixtures are currently placed.

Open to all ideas on how to manage this if it's not a terrible idea. My current contractor is telling me this is not really possible and is suggesting alternatives we aren't crazy about (like corner shelves).