A haven of sorts

The most intimate of spaces, bathrooms have evolved dramatically over recent years.

As attitudes towards bathing have continued to change, transforming the bathroom into the last remaining bastion of total privacy and stress-free self indulgence, trends in space utilisation and design of fittings and fixtures have responded accordingly.

“In contemporary architecture, bathrooms are often considered as living areas, rather than purely technical spaces. Changes in lifestyle lead to changes in the spaces people inhabit; different meanings are attached to the space and the elements within that space,” said Jeronimo Vernetti, brand manager of Boffi.

“The bathroom is no longer merely functional but has become an extension of the living space. Designers are seeking to extend lifestyle concepts harmoniously into all areas of a home or hotel room,” agreed Guy Wilson, head of the Gulf region for Geberit International.

Much has been made of the transformation of the bathroom into a private retreat. In any context, the bathroom is a site of ritual, a personal area where users reset, recharge and reaffirm their sense of self, said Martin Koch, chief communication officer at Kaldewei, one of Europe’s leading bath manufacturers.

“In a fast-moving, stressful world, relaxation has become vitally important, and the bathroom has been transformed into a private, individual spa area. Nobody takes a bath for purely hygienic reasons – bathing is about escaping from a certain frame of mind. Because of the intimate form of the bath tub and the effects of the warm water, your work mode shuts down and you enter a deep REM phase,” he explained.

Kaldewei has conducted extensive research studies into all elements of the bathing process, Koch explained. A total of six studies have been carried out over the past six years, exploring topics such as the psychology of taking a bath, a shower or a whirlpool, or bathing for the elderly.

Appreciation of good design is not purely cerebral, Koch added – it is a more emotionally driven process.

“There is a direct relationship between interior design and architecture and our emotions and physical moods. We know whether we feel good on entering a room, even before we have built up an intelligent opinion,” he maintained. Mental cleansing

Dornbracht’s most recent product lines have paid tribute to this move towards extreme indulgence.

Its Elemental Spa is the third so-called ritual bathroom line, and follows on from MEM, which is described as a ‘contemplative bathroom for spiritual regeneration’, and Tara Logic, ‘the active bathroom where the rituals focus on the body’.

Designed to be both archaic and original, The Elemental Spa places water as the focal point and has been designed with both physical and mental cleansing in mind. Water points are clear and cubic, while nozzles are crystal-like.

Taking a move towards the elaborate one step further, Villeroy & Boch has incorporated neo baroque design influences into its product lines, in the form of opulent decorative features and classical design elements.

The extravagantly styled Memento New Glory washbasin, for example, was inspired by the sumptuous splendour of times past.Meanwhile, the Memento New Glory Platinum incorporates a filigree flower décor in high-quality, real platinum.Extra touches of luxury can be added with the new Square tap fitting, made of genuine Strass Swarovski crystal.

The company has also launched the complementary New Glory ceramic tile range, which has been designed to lend itself equally to harmonious, classical baroque settings or to ultra-modern, minimalist, crossover styles.

This range of non-vitreous tiles comprises matt basic tiles in white and cream and subtly textured full décor tiles in cream, dark red, white and grey. There is a matching mosaic décor in silver-white, as well as listelli and borders.

According to Koch, there is a definite trend towards co-ordinating colours within the bathroom, particularly when it comes to matching flooring to shower trays.

“For shower trays there is a trend towards complementing the floor. It makes the room bigger and more comfortable,” he said.

The move is undeniably towards a more stylised and design-led space,  Wilson agreed. “Bathrooms have become more stylish, with design and aesthetic appeal driving product choice in conjunction with a move towards reliability and water conservation.”

Another key, and continuing, trend is the move towards concealment, which creates added pressure to make the parts that do show even more aesthetically pleasing, said Wilson.

“Geberit, having pioneered the modern trend towards concealed cisterns and wall-hung sanitaryware, has consistently evolved the visible parts of the cistern range through the introduction of the revolutionary Sigma range of flush plates.

“The emphasis on design has also extended to the exciting range of Geberit intelligent electronic taps for public washrooms, which offer superior water saving and hygiene, coupled with contemporary designs,” he continued.

A recent product to join the Sigma range is Sigma 50, a unique customisable flush plate that comes in a range of colours and finishes but also provides the option to fashion the flush plate to any bathroom decor or design theme.

The company has also introduced the new Uniflex shower channel, which is available in enamel and stainless steel and can be seamlessly integrated into floors with any finishing surface material and dimension.

“The high drainage capacity of the channel is ideal to cope with high volume showers, which are increasingly popular,” Wilson detailed. Materialistic

With so much emphasis being placed on enhanced bathroom design, it is unsurprising that manufacturers are constantly striving to create the perfect combination of form, function and technological advancement.

“The design of those elements is very much studied nowadays; materials used have become more technically sophisticated and more ergonomically sensitive. Global design awareness is growing more and more with time; designs are becoming more and more minimal and pure, and attention is being paid to amazingly small details,” said Carol Mansour, interior design manager at Purity.

Increasingly intelligent and imaginative use of materials is also playing a fundamental role in this process.

“Laufen relies on ceramic, a well-proven and authentic material that offers an excellent haptical feeling when touched. And as a real specialist in ceramics, Laufen wrests extraordinary forms out of this material that can’t be found anywhere else. Take a look at the Palomba Collection, for example, with its designplus and red dot-awarded washbasin 01, which is extraordinary large, flat and has an outstanding plain surface – a ceramic masterpiece that only Laufen is capable of realising,” said Ivan Zupanovic, international sales and marketing manager, Laufen Bathrooms.

Meanwhile, Dornbracht has incorporated a material mix of high-quality, chrome-plated brass and silky-matt corian, a mineral-based material, into its new product lines.

Corian cubes are used on some of the water points, further enhancing the monolithic character of the design.

Kadewei’s material of choice is its signature steel enamel, which is characterised by extreme durability and strength, and enables the company to offer a 30-year guarantee on its products.

“It can’t be burned, it can’t be scratched, and it is nearly as hard as a diamond. Even after 30 years, it looks brand new, is still shiny and is totally hygienic.”

For Koch, it is this long shelf life, along with its self-cleaning properties and stylish aesthetic that makes Kaldewei baths so popular, particularly in hotel proposals.

It is difficult, costly and troublesome to replace bath tubs, which is one reason why the big hotel chains select Kaldewei.

Hospitality focus

The hotel industry represents a major source of business for the company – and is the source of massive trend changes when it comes to bathroom design. Within hotel rooms, bathrooms are getting bigger but are also becoming a more obvious and important element of the overall room design.

Boundaries between the bathroom and the rest of the room are becoming less and less rigid – an obvious indicator of changing attitudes towards the whole bathing process.

“Designers and architects are considering incorporating the wet area of the bathroom within the bedroom space,” said Purity’s Mansour.

Design trends are essentially mimicking lifestyle adjustments – the bathroom’s confident march into the main bedroom is indicative of how bathing rituals have become a fundamental, undeniably important aspect of everyday life.

“No other room has been upvalued like the bathroom over recent decades. Many designers have changed the design and ambience of bathroom interior dramatically and forever, like Stefano Giovannoni, Wiel Arets, Ludovica + Roberto Palomba or Phoenix Design on behalf of Laufen, for example,” Zupanovic commented.

The bottom line is that when it comes to offering quality and luxury, the bathroom is no place to cut corners.

“Bathing is a very intimate, design-orientated process and people, especially in this region, expect a high-end product,” Koch warned.

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