Diane, Author at Bathroom Review

VitrA celebrates LDF with Carnovsky’s colour & light installation

August 22, 2022

As part of the London Design Festival 2022, as well as Clerkenwell Design Trail 2022, VitrA London will host an immersive colour experience using artwork by Milan-based art and design duo, Carnovsky. The new collaboration continues the brand’s 2022 theme of colour, which launched globally this year.

On show in the VitrA Clerkenwell showroom from 19 – 23 September, the unique artwork by Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla – professionally known as Carnovsky – experiments with the interaction between colour in print and light form.

Rugi and Quintanilla started working together in 2007, having met at Milan’s Domus Academy – where they both studied design – three years prior. On first reflection, Carnovsky’s artwork – named RGB – is a mix of lines, shapes and colours intertwined; yet when you superimpose red, green and blue filters over the top, the different layers within the art are revealed.

According to Carnovsky, RGB is about “the exploration of the surface’s deepness”, creating “surfaces that mutate and interact with different chromatic stimuli”.

The artists add: “Working with coloured lights, we understood that each colour works in a different way because they have different wavelengths – red the longest, blue the shortest, green in between – and we use this characteristic for the narrative of the image.”

What viewers experience is unexpected and disorienting, yet mesmerising. “The idea behind RGB is that there are many different levels of meaning in things,” says Carnovsky. “What you see for the first time may hide other meanings, other worlds, and what is supposed to be flat may not be.”

In addition to Carnovsky’s installation, the VitrA London showroom will run a series of free virtual reality (VR) experience sessions on Tuesday 20 September.

VitrA’s Virtual Worlds software transfers bathroom designs into 4-D, enabling individuals to experience them on a whole new level. At each session, the user will be given a VR headset to explore a fully immersive virtual bathroom space, including turning on a virtual tap and interacting with the latest bathroom collections from VitrA.

What’s more, to coincide with the brand’s colour theme, selected settings on Virtual Worlds have been created to provide inspiration for how to incorporate colour within the bathroom.

To round off Clerkenwell Design Trail 2022, VitrA London will host an evening of drinks, nibbles and conversations for the design industry – including architects, designers and specifiers – on Wednesday 21 September. Free to attend – click here or email london@vitra.co.uk to RSVP.

“RGB Colour Experience by Carnovsky” is at VitrA London from 19 – 23 September 2022 (09:00 – 18:00). Free to attend – click here for more information or to register your interest. VR experience sessions run from 10:00 – 15:00 on 20 September 2022. Free to attend but booking required.

Address: VitrA London, Turnmill Building, 64 Turnmill Street, London EC1M 5RR

To browse VitrA’s latest collections, visit vitra.co.uk.

Keep Reading

Aqualisa wins RoSPA Gold Award for health and safety achievements

August 18, 2022

Bathroom product specialist Aqualisa has announced it has once again been honoured with the RoSPA Gold Award, an internationally-recognised accolade for demonstrating the highest health and safety standards.

Organisations that receive a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world leaders in health and safety practice. Almost 2,000 entrants compete each year to achieve the top prize in the UK’s longest-running health and safety industry awards.

Mat Norris, CEO at Aqualisa, commented, “Aqualisa has an ongoing commitment to health and safety best practice throughout the business. I am extremely proud of our people, who consistently strive to ensure that the company maintains the highest standards at all times – delivering a safe working environment whatever their role or location. Receiving the RoSPA Gold Award is testimony to everyone’s hard work over the past 12 months, and I thank my team for their dedication.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s achievements director, said: “This is a fantastic and well-deserved accomplishment. All our award entrants demonstrate their unwavering commitment and passion for keeping people safe at work. By receiving this recognition, Aqualisa joins like-minded businesses and organisations worldwide, who represent the very best in their approach to health and safety. I would like to add my personal thanks for all the work that it has taken to secure this well-deserved award – congratulations to all those involved, who champion and drive up health and safety standards every day. You are a fantastic example to others in your sector.”

Keep Reading

TOTO presents two new automatic taps with ECO CAP technology

August 17, 2022

TOTO’s two new award-winning automatic taps feature its new ECO CAP technology to reduce water consumption.

Perfect for residential and hospitality bathrooms, these collections were both recognised with the international Red Dot Award and Green Design Award for outstanding design. Available in a wide range of different versions, there is a perfect tap for every washbasin – from self-rim and undercounter washbasins to furniture washbasins and vessels.

The round and square tap collections each have five different versions – all of which are touch-free and use very little water. One special feature of TOTO’s touch-free tap is the SELF POWER technology, which can also be called an integrated “hydropower plant”: One of the smallest sensors in the world is installed in the spout, registering people’s hand movements to activate the flow of water. A second technology is also at work inside the faucet: A generator converts the energy from the flow of water to power the microsensor.

Water-saving technology creates a pleasantly full stream of water

Another new technology is TOTO’s ECO CAP, which adds air to the water to reduce consumption and create a comfortable sensation: The stream of water feels very gentle and full, but the tap only uses two litres.

The perfect tap for every washbasin

Each of these faucet collections – square and round – is available in three heights and two different wall spout lengths. The perfect tap is available for all types of washbasins – from self-rim and undercounter washbasins to furniture washbasins and counter basins and vessels. The two collections impressed the judges for the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2022 in February 2022: The design experts praised the “minimalistic design approach” and “expressiveness”, recognising the collections as winners. These two touch-free faucet collections also won the Green Good Design Award 2021. The “harmony of the design with its surroundings” played a role in the award, as well as the factor of “user-friendliness”.

Touch-free in the bathroom – TOTO taps, shower toilets and more

Society’s experiences with the pandemic over the past few years have sensitised people in a variety of different respects, especially when it comes to hygiene. Cleanliness is important whenever several people use the same bathroom. The fewer surfaces people have to touch, the more comfortable. Touch-free faucets and hand dryers were once found exclusively in public washrooms but are increasingly found in private homes today. In addition to its touch-free taps, TOTO offers a number of other products that help elevate hygiene: shower toilets with automatic flush (WASHLET™), automatic soap dispensers, hand dryers and washbasins with especial dirt-resistant ceramic surfaces.

Keep Reading

Hotel bathrooms: How do you improve the experience and maximise customer satisfaction?

August 17, 2022

Today we hear from Toni ElKadi, head of global project business at Duravit AG who explains how he feels Duravit helps upgrade processes, from providing water-saving products to easy-clean options.

The bathroom plays an important role when it comes to selecting a hotel. A high-quality, contemporary interior is a key factor in securing bookings. As a supplier of complete bathrooms, Duravit offers a wide range of durable and sustainable design products that are a perfect fit for a modern hotel bathroom. Whether in a three-star city hotel or a five-star luxury resort: comfortable, spacious bathrooms with perfect hygiene solutions are a solid foundation for satisfied hotel guests.

Mr. ElKadi, at Duravit you oversee Global Project Business, part of which involves interfacing with hotel operators from around the world. How important is the bathroom within the interior design of a hotel?

In an era of online booking portals, positive guest reviews are more important than ever for hoteliers. We need to see the bathroom as being a key factor in customer satisfaction and enhancing the quality of the guests’ stay. Guests are more susceptible to the bathroom than other areas of the hotel, no other space is as intimate for the guest as the bathroom.

What are your recommendations to hoteliers for their interior bathroom concept in terms of design and colour? Are there any materials that hoteliers should avoid?

It’s not about avoiding a specific material, but rather selecting high-quality materials that meet the needs of both the environment and the guest.

Rectangular bathroom furniture with open space is recommended for smaller areas, as they can increase the usability of the room.

Use authentic, natural colours for furniture. This creates a relaxed environment and helps the guests feel comfortable and can enhance the overall experience of a stay, as the guests enjoy the tranquility of the bathroom.

For 5-star hotels and resorts, comfort, design and materials play a decisive role, especially for bathtubs. The innovative DuraSolid® is a material with a unique look and feel. Duravit’s freestanding bathtubs such as Zencha, Luv or Cape Cod can be rectangle, round, oval or even square and entice guests to enjoy a unique bathing experience.

With its all-encompassing product portfolio, Duravit provides designers and operators with inspiration and a wide variety of design concepts – whether modern, traditional, or contemporary. The operator finds in Duravit a reliable brand not only for durability, quality, conformity, sustainability but for the after-sales service too.

Which surfaces are best suited for the sanitary equipment in hotel bathrooms? What makes them suitable for this environment?

The quality of the product is the deciding factor, in addition to the attention to detail in terms of design. Duravit offers highly developed products made especially for wet and damp environments.

As an example, I’d like to mention our innovative matt lacquer surfaces as these are scratch-resistant and are easy to care for. Several coats of a special water-based lacquer are applied by hand, producing a surface of an extraordinary quality with innovative properties. The anti-fingerprint coating makes fingerprints disappear, the surfaces have a pleasant feel, and they are easy to clean.

Cleaning and cleanliness also play a central role in the hotel business…

Exactly, a further aspect is of course hygiene. The hotel bathroom is a place that needs to guarantee the utmost in cleanliness and hygiene. That’s why the right equipment is essential and why the hygienic qualities of the products need to be considered, such as the Duravit Rimless® technology.

The open rim design promotes hygiene thanks to a powerful water flow and represents a cost-effective or the housekeeping team – the overall cleaning time can be reduced, and efficiency guaranteed.

What role does sustainability play in hotel bathrooms?

Alongside design, sustainability is naturally a key principle in decision-making. All Duravit furniture is manufactured at our plant in the Black Forest and is PEFC®-certified, meaning it is made from wood products from sustainably managed forests.

Water consumption is also a key factor. This can also be reduced by the optimum flushing of toilets. The innovative HygieneFlush flushing technology provides a powerful flushing flow. Independent tests show that this new flushing technique optimally cleans the entire inner surface of the toilet.

Similarly, the focus of the development of the faucets is on creating sustainable and durable products. Durable products are characterized by timelessly modern design, high user-friendliness, and intelligent functions.

All washbasin faucets are limited to 5 l/min, and the MinusFlow option even reduces this to 3.5 l/min. save energy and costs, especially with large projects in the hotel area.

How can technology in the bathroom enhance the guest experience?

As the world becomes ever more digital, innovative products that enhance the user’s comfort are finding their way into the bathroom. This is the product of a customer-focused research and development process that combines technology, functionality, and design in a meaningful way. To give a few examples: shower toilets, mirrors and faucets.

With shower toilets, hotels can offer their guests a comfortable experience with optimum hygiene – because nothing is as purifying as water. SensoWash® is a by-word for contemporary, gentle, and flawless hygiene. The SensoWash® Starck f shower-toilet is iconic and minimalistic in equal measure.

Light is another important topic for designers and operators. With the use of Duravit mirrors, the light atmosphere in the bathroom can be covered for any structural conditions – whether in terms of mood, ambience, experience, design or technology. Finally, sensor basin mixers: touchless faucets offer a hygienic and smart solution for public areas.

Keep Reading

Crosswater launches Canvass furniture collection

August 17, 2022

Inspired by America’s mid-century modern design movement, Crosswater has launched Canvass, a new furniture collection that balances traditional design elements with modern craftsmanship to offer highly functional and stylish bathroom solutions.

Canvass features classic silhouettes, calming palettes, and hard-wearing materials that work together to provide a timeless and durable collection that compliments both traditional and contemporary bathroom designs. The collection comprises a wall hung countertop unit that can be paired with coordinating height adjustable legs for a floor standing option. The Double Drawer Unit is available in four sizes, 485mm, 600mm, 700mm, and 900mm, and four flawless finishes, which include Sage Green, Deep Indigo Blue, Storm Grey Matt, and White Gloss. There is also a choice of three different handles, modern, knurled, and classic, available in a range of different finishes for a uniquely customisable offering.

Canvass features soft closing, push to open drawers and, for those that want optimum functionality and extra storage, an optional internal drawer. The Double Drawer Unit features a Carrara Marble Effect Worktop that pairs beautifully with Crosswater’s wide range of countertop basins, including Circus, Navona, and Castellon.

Available fully assembled for a quick and easy install, the Double Drawer Unit is crafted from sustainable sources and finished with a matt lacquered finish to protect the wood from bacteria, fingerprints, discolouration, and fading. The worktop is easy to clean, highly heat resistant, and impenetrable to dust, dirt, and bacteria.

With prices ranging from £1,090 to £1,785, Canvass is available from independent bathroom retailers throughout the UK, as well as several online bathroom retailers.

Keep Reading

Simon Acres Group and Compusoft to host careers day

August 17, 2022

Leading KBB and merchant services provider, Simon Acres Group (SAGL) has partnered with specialist industry software provider Compusoft, to host a careers day for teenagers looking to enter the kitchen and bathroom sector.

The day takes place on Tuesday 11 October at the UK office of Compusoft in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, and will bring together training providers and industry specialists to advise on how best to build a career in the industry.

Young people that attend on the day will not only have access to a wealth of information but can secure FREE on-line training from Simon Acres Group and a FREE software licence for 12 months from Compusoft.

“Young people considering their options, will find this day extremely useful, with so much expertise and knowledge available from our supporters and the opportunity to take away thousands of pounds worth of free training,” says Simon Acres Group MD Simon Acres.

Alexander Ainge MD at Compusoft GB Ltd said, “We are delighted to be working with Simon Acres to host this day. The skills shortage in the industry is a real threat to our future, which cannot be ignored. We must all take positive steps to try and reverse this situation. We hope that our careers day will create awareness and attract new people into our industry.

Craig Matson from The Kitchen Education Trust, (TKET), the training body behind the kitchen design degree apprenticeship (level 6) added, “I am pleased to support Compusoft and Simon Acres Group in offering this day. Education is vital for the future of our industry. It can help us bring a greater level of professionalism, which encourages increased credibility with other professionals, as well as trustworthiness with retail clients and developers.

Barry Moss from LEAP Apprenticeships will be in attendance to discuss opportunities to join the Level 3 Fitted Furniture Design Technician Apprenticeship that covers furniture, furnishings, and interior design. This programme is delivered remotely and available to all applicants who have access to a design role or are on the career path to progress there. Kerry Wilson Learning and Development Manager at BFM, who works closely with Barry Moss supporting apprenticeships within the BMF membership, will also be in attendance.

Other supporters attending include Tom Reynolds from the BMA; lecturer and interior/kitchen designer Renee Mascari and Damian Walters, chief executive at BiKBBI, champion for the Level 2 Fitted Interiors Apprenticeship.

Keep Reading

GROHE discloses ecological product impact with EPD’s

August 16, 2022

Considering the fact that carbon emissions from buildings and construction constitute almost 40 percent of global carbon emissions, knowledge of a building’s environmental impact is becoming key to enable the construction industry to work towards the necessary green transformation.

Accordingly, a number of states have already established national lifecycle carbon limits for new or public buildings. Some states require carbon reporting as a minimum standard, while others have generally enacted more stringent requirements for new construction projects.

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are considered by the European Commission as a suitable means of evaluating the sustainability of a building since the materials and products used in it significantly determine a building’s impact on the environment. In order to provide its customers with transparency regarding the ecological footprint of its products, the sanitary brand GROHE will release EPDs for 18 product groups that cover more than 600 single products by the end of October. The first batch, which will be published at the end of July 2022, includes basin and kitchen mixers, thermostats, and shower rail sets. A second wave will follow by the end of October 2022 and will comprise special fittings, hand showers, installation systems, and flush plates.

“With the launch of EPDs for a wide range of our portfolio, we offer our customers easy orientation and transparent comparison options with regard to the life cycle assessment of our products. On this basis, they can make informed statements about the environmental impact of buildings, which is often a cornerstone for sustainability certifications such as DGNB, LEED or BREEAM, or even a prerequisite for new building permits in many European cities. With increasing pressure on the construction industry to make buildings ever more sustainable, information of this kind will be a selection criterion for products in the future, on a level with price, design or quality,” says Jonas Brennwald, leader, LIXIL EMENA.

Transparency to promote sustainable construction projects
An EPD is a comprehensive, independently verified, and registered product pass. It reports transparent
and comparable data on the environmental impact of a product’s life cycle (Life Cycle Assessment). The
life cycle is considered from the extraction of raw materials through to production then the use phase to
disposal, including the impact of the individual transport routes.

Tomas Kvillström, leader, commercial regulation, LIXIL EMENA underlines how important it is to analyze a product’s entire life cycle: “We also looked at the usage phase, which has sometimes been neglected by the industry in the past. The long use phase of our products is the main driver for water and energy consumption and therefore a crucial piece of information for building management companies and hotel operators in particular. However, this knowledge is not only elementary for our customers, but also a good benchmark for us to further increase the sustainability of our value chain and products.”

Environmental Declarations are based on the international standard ISO 14025, and with regard to the
construction industry EPDs are particularly based on EN 15804 for construction products, services and
processes.

All EPDs can easily be found here

Keep Reading

New stocked finish from MHS radiators

August 16, 2022

MHS Radiators has added a new stocked finish for its best-selling Nina towel rail, which is now available as a 1160 x 500mm model in Denim Blue and can be delivered in just 3-5 days.

As consumers embrace exciting alternatives to ‘standard’ models, MHS Radiators is seeing increased demand for its coloured towel rails. Nina features a simple, minimalistic design and is available in three fuel types – central heating, dual fuel and electric. The 1160 x 500mm central heating model offers outputs of 539 watts.

Alex Bradley, Operations Manager at MHS Radiators, commented: “Our ever-popular Nina towel rail
in Denim Blue is flying off the shelves as consumers want to bring colour into their bathrooms, so much so that we’ve made it a stock colour. While chrome towel rails have been at the forefront of the bathroom market for many years, the go-to metallic finish is now taking a back seat as homeowners look to embrace an injection of colour.”

In addition to Denim Blue, Nina is available in 80 ‘Special’ finishes – such as Sparkling Black, Golden Peach and Grey Anthracite – and eight sizes, ranging from 760 x 400mm to 1775 x 600mm.

For more information on MHS Radiators and its portfolio of designer, multi column, traditional cast iron radiators and towel rails, or to download the 2022 Product Guide & Price List, please visit www.mhsradiators.co.uk or telephone 0345 521 5666.

Keep Reading

HiB publishes new CSR report outlining sustainability mission

August 15, 2022

Sparking the next chapter in its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mission, leading bathroom supplier HiB has published a new report defining its goals and targets for a more sustainable future.

The new report covers a range of CSR areas, from protecting the environment, to developing staff training and improving supply chain procedures and processes. Each topic has been investigated by HiB’s dedicated CSR team, using data to highlight current activity levels across departments.

Each area has been approached with the company vision in mind, to make a ‘substantial difference to the lives of its people, partners and the world we live in’. Information gathered during the production of the report, has been used to evaluate operations and guide the one, three and five year goals set by HiB. Among the targets identified are reducing Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 42% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality, something the company has already began working on.

Robert Ginsberg, Managing Director at HiB said: “As a company we are serious about our Corporate Social Responsibility and making a difference. By producing the CSR report, we’ve been able to evaluate our activities in detail, highlighting areas that need improvement in order to help us reach our goals.

“CSR has always been part of our operations and over the years, we have implemented a number of processes and procedures to support those in and around the business. We’ve also invested significantly in infrastructure, installing solar panels at our Inspire House Distribution Centre and electric charging points.

“This report is the next stage in our development as we look to improve our credentials as a sustainable, responsible business. It has allowed us to evaluate our efforts and put in a plan in place to improve, become even more environmentally-friendly and reach our ultimate goals and vision.”

The CSR report is available to view at the HiB website, visit https://www.hib.co.uk/corporate-social-responsibility for more details.

Keep Reading

Go (Sage) Green with Bathrooms to Love…

August 10, 2022

The Lambra Modular Furniture range, one of PJH’s best-selling bathroom furniture families from its Bathrooms to Love Collection, has been expanded with the welcome addition of a new matt sage green option.

With a tactile super matt finish and smooth curved edges, the new Sage Green colourway joins Lambra’s three other finishes; Matt Indigo, Matt Grey and Gloss White, thus providing Bathrooms to Love stockists with yet further options on this premium furniture range to entice the consumer.

Styled with an integrated handle, the new Lambra Matt Sage Green range is available as wall-hung and floor-standing, including 500mm, 605mm and 805mm width basin units, a tall unit and a WC unit. The basin units feature a curved integrated ceramic basin and two-drawers (wall-hung) or two-doors (floor-standing) – so storage space is in abundance.

Explained Julie Lockwood, product manager, furniture, Bathrooms to Love: “Introducing new colours into bathroom spaces through furniture continues to grow, especially green-themed hues, with links to the natural environment. This beautiful sage green shade makes for a classy bathroom statement, especially when teamed with Lambra’s streamlined and curvaceous form.”

With a colour-coordinated cabinet and soft-close drawer and door fittings, the Lambra units boast a high specification, quality build and finish, and are highly durable to stand the test of time.

The new range, now available and in stock, comes complete with a QR label – as shown in the current ‘Style’ Bathrooms to Love consumer brochure and on point-of-sale. This allows the customer to access further product information as well as Augmented Reality – and visualise Lambra in their own bathroom space, to help encourage sales.

For further information, contact Bathrooms to Love at PJH on Tel: 0800 8 77 88 99; or visit www.partners.pjh.uk and www.bathroomstolove.uk

More news from PJH Group

Keep Reading