This is just personal preference with pros and cons on both sides.

The pony wall would give you a nice spot for a towel bar for your bath towels. You could also do your niche in the pony wall and all you shower stuff would be hidden from view.

If you take it out, you can still have a bench ... they sell very nice teak ones that come in different lengths.

You will definitely have a more open look without the pony wall. But as @chispa pointed out, where do the towels go? I’d be a bit concerned that your contractor can’t imagine a bench without a wall….

I don't like built in benches or niches in showers, just more edges and corners to waterproof and pony walls make glass installation harder and close off the shower. I have an open shower with a shower curtain and it works nicely. Shampoo etc goes on a corner shelf, If I want an bench I'll use a teak one, I can open the curtain to turn on the shower and then easily reach out to get my towel and robe that's on a hook next to the shower. Think about the flexibility and easy cleaning of a shower curtain and using hooks just outside the shower for towels etc.

You'd have to remove the shower curtain at some point to give it a good cleaning.

You will have something like this if you keep the pony wall.

Yes, I have two simple white "waffled cotton" shower curtains and one goes in the wash every week. Everything stays clean and the shower curb stays dry. My setup is not going to appeal to lots of people, but I chose it to make things as simple and flexible as possible. It ended up saving me money and it looks nice to my eye.

That "command hook" is a nice solution to get a towel without getting out of the shower. Here's my "curtain" solution that lets me reach in and out of the shower wherever I need.

@ackowskib My frameless shower is built like yours with the built in bench being part of the design. I don't feel it is less open than a shower without a bench.

For whatever reason built in benches are controversial but I absolutely love my bench. It is comfortable and safe. It is great to sit on if I am using any kind of product that needs to be left on for a few minutes. I even have a second hand held next to the bench to make it even more functional.

I am not understanding the issue with towel placement. I don't hang my towels on the shower door anyway. Why do they need to be hung on the shower door as opposed to someplace else in the bathroom. Is one concerned about the shower that one reaches for when one is in the shower?

I like to dry off inside the shower and also put my robe on inside the shower just to keep as much water as possible in the shower and to stay cosy once I step out. So I want my robe and towel to be in a dry location that I can easily reach from inside the shower. Glass and glass doors just seemed to make that a little more trouble than a simple curtain...and I saved a few $k too.

@Lisa you could go with a corner bench then you could have glass right across the front. Or just go with a teak bench and then you can have full glass and the flexibility to move the bench. that's what I'm going to do, There is lots of choice here.

https://aquateak.com/shower-benches-shave-stools-1/

I went with having a bench for aging in this home in case needed. Shower is 55” in length which is some wasted space unless there’s multiple shower heads being used.

You need the wall space. I'd keep it.

Wall = less glass to squeegee!

Is all the black stuff I see on the wood and old insulation mold?! If so, have it removed and bagged up immediately. NOW, if it was not done already.

@felizlady it looks like it from the picture, but it isn't mold. That's brand new wood and insulation. It's unfortunate that they made it in a dark color!

After seeing the beautiful pictures everyone shared, I see a pony wall can still be gorgeous - and a bench can still work without a wall. My contractor can't handle that truth, so for us, it is all or nothing.

We are going to ditch the wall and go with a teak bench, because in my smallish bathroom, it will feel more open. However, if there's some weird reason why it can't happen in the end, I will be put some towel hooks on it and enjoy the opportunity.

Thank you to everyone for sharing! I will post a picture when it's finished. If it's ever finished, ha ha.

@Lisa, I just bought this

https://aquateak.com/all-teak-benches/the-original-18-asia-teak-shower-bench/

I think the full glass and a teak bench will look great and combine it with @bearbev 's command hook on the glass and you have a nice solution. Make sure you can open the door and easily reach the shower controls so you can turn it on before you step in.

Also as you have blueboard outside the shower I assume your contractor will be covering that with veneer plaster? that's what I got done in my bathrooms just because in my locality it's usual to use veneer plaster on walls. Removing the bench makes the shower waterproofing a little simpler, but make sure your installer is using an approved waterproofing system. Finally if you are having a curb I'd cover it with a single piece of manufactured stone rather than tile.

@Lisa FYI, my teak stool arrived. I think it's a great way to solve the bathroom seat issue. It's solid slabs of teak held together by 6 large stainless steel bolts and looks good. One caveat, the stool is heavy, ~20lbs, so it's not for someone who can't bend down and lift a weight if you want to move it around.

I put a wall in mine--it's tall enough to have the niche for shampoo in it so the visible shower looks sleek. Well, it would if people didn't prefer to balance shampoo bottles on the grab bar...