kbb LDN is the trade exhibition dedicated to kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. Visitors will be able to see the latest product launches whilst having the opportunity to meet with key suppliers. Forecasting future trends, the Innovation Centre will be the place to see the most pioneering developments this sector has to offer. Exhibitors include Leicht, Arredo 3, Baumatic, Thomas Dudley, Poggenpohl, Perrin & Rowe, Fisher & Paykel, Hoover Candy, Scavolini, and Blum.

The DX exhibition will be a celebration of design excellence. Design and technology are evolving faster than ever before, bringing unparalleled change to the way we create and furnish the interior and exterior spaces in which we live, work and play. The exploratory exhibition will bring together a selection of cutting-edge design, ideas and solutions for contract and domestic interiors. Brands in the DX exhibition include: Ligne Roset; Hitch Mylius; Deirdre Dyson; Armourcoat; PP Mobler; Viaduct; and Ryan.

INTERIORS LDN is a new event specifically created for the London market and those specifying globally. It will showcase the best contemporary British and international design in furniture and interiors for the mid to high-end market.

The exhibition will feature exclusive exhibitors such as Rolf Benz, Spectral, Boca Do Lobo, Sharon Marston, Timorous Beasties, James UK, and Deadgood.

THE ARC SHOW

Well established in its own right, The ARC Show will join forces with the May Design Series to further grow its position as the UK’s leading architectural and decorative lighting exhibition. The show will provide a creative lighting exhibition for the architectural, retail, interior design and property communities.  At the May Design Series, visitors will see lighting as a part of the wider built environment. Exhibitors confirmed to date include Erco, iGuzzini, KKDC and Astro Lighting.

KARIM RASHID

One of the most prolific designers of his generation, Karim Rashid will be at the May Design Series – hosting a keynote session and then taking to the decks to DJ at the event’s late night opening. Winner of last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Designer Kitchen & Bathroom Awards, Rashid has a formidable track record. With 3,000 designs in production, over 300 awards and numerous projects undertaken globally, his session will discuss how the move from analog to digital has changed our material world and how design will inform, and social behaviours will change.

He has worked across all sectors with a number of interiors brands including Artemide, Axo Light, BoConcept, Cappellini, Herman Miller and Magis among others, as well as restaurant, hotel and museum projects. However, the multi-talented designer is also a DJ in his spare time and will be playing out the final hours of the show on Monday 20 May with an exclusive DJ set.

THE CONVERSATION SERIES is a comprehensive talks programme featuring sessions for architects, developers, designers and retailers. With specific sessions for all sectors of the event, the programme offers something for everyone. Topics include: How to avoid a lighting ‘kitchen nightmare’; the Green Deal; extreme design; and the future home. There will also be a session on the changing role of kitchens and bathrooms chaired by Designer Kitchen & Bathroom Editor Martin Allen-Smith with guests Thomas Johansson (Design Director at Electrolux), Geoff Wickett (Marketing Manager, Hansgrohe UK), and Maurizio Severgnini, Managing Director, Hoover Candy Built-In Division).

MATERIAL XPERIENCE

Debuting in the UK, Material Xperience on Tour is an edited selection of innovative materials used in architecture and design. Curated by knowledge centre Materia, editors have selected the materials they find innovative or novel in some way and created a unique and refined selection of products which can be used in any environment from bedrooms to kitchens and from hotels to hospitals. Materials will include ranges from Tactility Factory, Alexandra Devaux, Nya Nordiska, Joel Berman Glass Studios and DendroLight.

Shaping The Space

Designer Ab Rogers has been commissioned to create the design concept behind the May Design Series, taking visitors on a journey through a city-scape environment, linking each of the four districts together to create one complete experience.

By playing with off-set footprints and exaggerated perspectives and planes, Rogers’ designs are intended to capture visitors’ attention and encourage them to move and engage within the space.

“I am very excited to work on the May Design Series. We are looking forward to taking part in creating a new type of design show, which will celebrate interior design and improve communication between visitors, specifiers and exhibitors”

In front of a packed audience of finalists and other guests at the Sub Zero & Wolf Subterranean Studio in London’s Brompton Road, the results were revealed by food writer Tom Parker-Bowles.

Divided into two sections – contemporary and traditional – Davy Swanenberg won the contemporary category for his striking modern professional kitchen design. Meanwhile, former Designer Kitchen & Bathroom Award winner Jane Stewart won the traditional section for a bright and spacious reconfiguration.

The winners now go through to the final, with the chance to win a top prize of $40,000. As well as the main prizes, there is also a designers’ choice and a peoples’ choice award. The contest is open to anyone working with Sub Zero & Wolf products, including kitchen retailers, kitchen designers, architects, interior designers and builders or developers.

The other finalists to receive runners-up certificates in the regional section were: Marzia Caldirola of Boffi London; Darren Jenner of Darren Jenner London; Paolo Marazzi of Marazzi Design; and Jim Brookman of the Richmond Square Group.

The Kitchen Design Contest takes place every two years and this time, marks its 10th edition. The contest was developed by Sub-Zero & Wolf as a way of recognising kitchen design professionals and the critical role they play in making beautiful kitchens happen.

Sub Zero & Wolf | www.subzero-wolf.co.uk

Jacobsen’s designs comprise a wide assortment of items such as furniture, textiles, lighting fixtures, door handles, cutlery, stainless steel tableware, glassware, clocks, taps and accessories.

His KV1 tap design for Vola epitomised his simple, streamlined design style. The fact that it still looks as sleek and modern today as it did when Jacobsen created it in 1968 speaks volumes about the purity of its design. It also created a design image from which all of Vola’s products have spawned throughout the 45 years since.

It is perhaps best summed up by former Vola Managing Director Carsten Overgaard – who sadly died earlier this year – when he said: “Design classics are the proof of the lasting values of good design.”

Vola | www.vola.com

Going from traditional to all-out modern in the kitchen would be quite a culture shock for many, but that is exactly the change that the owners of this Newcastle home opted for when redeveloping their home.

The kitchen was created by designer Julia Brown of Mowlem & Co following the clients’ decision to extend their already substantial property in which the same kitchen studio had already fitted a kitchen four years previously. The room was being knocked through to more than double the size, and after considering re-using their original kitchen – which was in a classic English style – they came full circle and decided to go totally contemporary with glossy finishes.

The brief was to complement the length that had been given to this room and to include a working practical kitchen layout to incorporate dining for eight, casual bar seats at the island, and a more formal bar area for the many social evenings they hold.

This hand-made bespoke kitchen – which was shortlisted for the Designer Kitchen & Bathroom Awards 2012 – utilising Grey Ash veneer on the tall bank of furniture which features a chunky ‘goalpost’ detail and external handleless design. Appliances in this bank of furniture include ovens by Gaggenau and refrigeration from Siemens.

All base cabinets are Latte sprayed up to a high gloss finish in Mowlem’s factory and are all made in a linear style thanks to its handleless form. Worktops by Caesarstone complete the look.

A wall of hidden storage cabinets also cleverly conceals the sliding door mechanism which opens the doors to the hallway in an effortless motion, all of which is finished in a Grey Ripple Sycamore veneer.

A corner of the room is dedicated to the bar area, which is all made in a Dark Stained Oak finish and includes an ice making machine and Sub Zero wine cooler.

Other little touches in Brown’s design – such as mirrored plinths, extra-wide double drawers, and granite shelving in for the larder internals – give the kitchen a level of elegance that the clients wanted included in this very much up-to-date new look for the heart of their home.

Mowlem & Co | www.mowlemandco.com

Martin Allen-Smith finds out what makes them tick…

The launch at ISH in Frankfurt last month of the new Happy D.2 and X-Large collections from Duravit are the latest fruits of an impressively long collaboration between the prolific design duo and the German sanitaryware manufacturer that stretches back to the early 1980s.

The link began with Dieter Sieger, the founder of the design studio which is now run by his two sons, designer Michael and manager Christian.

From the stunning surroundings of Schloss Harkotten – a beautiful 18th Century castle in Northern Germany – the brothers have overseen a succession of influential product launches for Duravit and a multitude of other brands in kitchens, bathrooms and beyond.

The new products presented at ISH represent significant re-workings of some of their previous designs. With Happy D.2 in particular, the big challenge was how to go about reinventing a product which already had such strong characteristics. Christian Sieger explained: “We started with the premise of setting out to do something completely new, perhaps with the same design understanding but with a new look that embraces the trends of today, with a lighter and simpler aesthetic.

“As we went through the process however, we found that we kept touching on some of the same areas as Happy D in terms of design lines and structures. So we figured, why not take these structures and transform them into a new product that uses some of the elements that people are familiar with.

“The original Happy D is now 15 years old, but it’s only now you see Happy D.2 that you notice the real differences in style and tastes that we have seen in that time in terms of the preferences for objects becoming lighter, more elegant and more sleek.

It is representative of a broader shift, says Michael Sieger: “I think in the past, luxury products had to have that sense of weight and size, whereas now, high-end is more about a refined look, a lightness to the design and the use of less material.

“It started about the time the iPod came on the market I guess. It made a real difference to how we perceive the things around us. Now we are all carrying around phones that are 5 or 6mm thick and we’ve got used to – and even expect to see – design with that kind of aesthetic.”

Christian adds that it is a trend that has permeated numerous different sectors – in the automotive market for example, cars are being made with aluminium frames to minimise the weight they have to carry, suitcases are being manufactured from ultra lightweight materials to make sure most of the weight being checked in is your belongings and not the case to carry them in. “It is as much an eco issue as anything else, but it makes sense to harness new technology to make things easier and more efficient to move – if it enhances the aesthetic too then that’s even better.”

Transferring this lightweight trend into the world of ceramics is certainly a technical challenge, but one which has evolved over recent years thanks to new technology. Michael explains: “As in any industry, we are seeing a great deal more precision in what it is possible to manufacture. It is partly our role as designers to push our partners to continue to develop new techniques and to challenge existing processes, but at the same time, we have to consider the cost implications.”

Christian agrees: “That’s the big challenge. We’re working with a natural material which has been more or less the same for a couple of thousand years and the potential scope for innovation is different to, say, metal or plastic, where the quality of the raw material can always be further refined and open up new possibilities.”

“Also for fabric, wallpaper and upholstery, there has been a revolution as inkjet technology has transformed what they are able to do in size, scope and quality.”

Embracing these new opportunities is a vital part of Sieger Design’s future work however, especially their projects in the bathroom sector. Christian says that the industry has come a long way in the time they have been designing products for the bathroom, not least because consumers’ tastes have developed from basic functional needs to a much more ambitious requirement that takes account of different materials and styles.

“I’m glad that we now have materials in the bathroom that people feel they can trust in that space and that they can use. At our house, we’ve had wooden floors in the bathroom for 15 years and never really worried that this was not waterproof or might not be generally considered as suitable for that kind of use. People need to learn what can be possible and that takes time.”

Michael adds: “Design is just an answer to the overall needs of society, so inevitably it’s strongly linked to the habits and tastes of consumers. For example, our father – an architect and a man with a very modern outlook – moved into his new house 10 years ago but insisted he didn’t want the kitchen to be open-plan like almost everyone else is doing, because he doesn’t want guests to be watching while he cooks, or have the cooking smells everywhere throughout the house.

“But the fact that more widely the kitchen has been opened up within the home is a result of a broader trend and a greater understanding of communication and socialising within the home.”

He adds that the logical next step was to open up the bathroom to the bedroom, which he did in his own home to remove the physical barriers between these areas. The changes to the way in which the bathroom is used also requires a re-think about the role of bathroom products themselves.

Christian says: “They become less about being functional items for washing or cleaning and more important as items of furniture in their own right. That’s why we strive for this more elegant look, something that’s a little more sculptural, so that you enjoy looking at it rather than trying to find ways of hiding it away because it looks ugly.”

Michael sees a further drastic shift in the way we look at bathroom furniture in the future, envisaging a point in around 20 years where the bathroom of a new house will typically start off empty, because people will move their bathroom fittings around like furniture – a more flexible, modular approach than is predominantly the case today. “People have become more mobile, so it makes sense to have a more mobile approach to important domestic items. Why not have a mobile bathroom to take to your next house?”

Sieger Design has spent many years exploring some of these ideas in collaboration with Duravit. The brand has a reputation for working with established design names. Indeed, at ISH, new products from Philippe Starck and Matteo Thun were also launched.

In an otherwise transient and often volatile business climate, it is encouraging to find a creative partnership that continues to stand the test of time. But what makes the link between manufacturer and design studio tick in the way that it does?

Christian says: “There are not that many business relationships that have this certain DNA. It is a feeling, respect and understanding that is hard to describe. It is kind of like a marriage – you have good times and bad times. In all the time we have worked with Duravit, we’ve had many challenges, one or two projects that didn’t go as well as we had hoped, but thankfully many more that have been successful.

“The divorce rate is high in society and it can be the same in business, but it’s good that we have been able to work together through the challenges rather than just go our separate ways the first time something didn’t go as well as we would have liked. It pays dividends in the long run because I think we have something like a 90/10 success ratio so clearly something is right in that relationship.”

He adds that Sieger Design’s approach with Duravit is very much a partnership, to the extent that the financial side of their collaboration is royalty-based, so the majority of their potential earnings from design work for the brand is linked to its commercial success.

“It can mean it takes quite a long time for us to get our investment back,” Michael explains, “because we normally work at least two years on a new product range, and then it can be a year in production so we can have three or maybe four years before we begin to earn any money from the products that we design.

But he adds: “It helps to focus and define our role as designers in that our main objective is not to act as some kind of cultural influence, to win design prizes, or feature on the cover of magazines – nice though that is – but rather it is to work with our partners to ensure that the products fulfil the needs of the market.”

So what of those market needs for kitchens and bathrooms? The brothers see a further elevation in the importance of these spaces within the home. Michael says: “We are absolutely convinced that these two rooms will remain the most important rooms in the house in the future because the future is very much about health. We see huge potential for innovation – the function of the product and how you spend your time in these rooms will be much more important than the aesthetic. These aspects will be considered even more important than how a product looks.

“Probably over the last decade, the main focus for kitchen design was to show off. We think that in the future, people will concentrate more and more on how to use the kitchen for cooking, just as they are gradually starting to care more about the quality of the food they eat and where it comes from.”

It’s a change in emphasis that needs to be properly acknowledged, says Christian: “Luckily, no-one wants to buy an ugly product, but we have to bring this together with an understanding of the importance of wellbeing, how important it is to recharge. Our homes have countless charging points for our mobile phones and gadgets, but where do we recharge? It’s about getting people back around the kitchen table to spend time with each other, or giving them the bathroom space that makes them want to have some ‘me-time’ to look after themselves.

“Perhaps one of the most important roles for the designer is to bring the products closer to the consumers’ lifestyle and giving them an understanding of what they are buying and how it can make their lives that little bit better.”

Sieger Design | www.sieger-design.com

Duravit | www.duravit.co.uk

Appliance brand Sub Zero & Wolf will soon be announcing the winners of the regional round of its 2010-12 Kitchen Design Contest – supported by Designer Kitchen & Bathroom – with a number of impressive high-end entries in the running.

The winners of the Best Use of Sub-Zero & Wolf category go through to the global winners contest later in the year, which includes a trip to Madson, Wisconsin, USA, and the chance to win a top prize of $40,000. The global winners’ event includes separate awards for traditional and contemporary kitchens, as well as a designers’ choice and a peoples’ choice award.

The contest is open to anyone working with Sub Zero & Wolf products, including kitchen retailers, kitchen designers, architects, interior designers and builders or developers.

The Kitchen Design Contest takes place every two years and this time, marks its 10th edition. Previous regional winners from the UK include Paul Marazzi of London-based Marazzi Design.

The contest was developed by Sub-Zero & Wolf as a way of recognising kitchen design professionals and the critical role they play in making beautiful kitchens happen.

“Since the inaugural competition in 1993, our Kitchen Design Contest has recognised many of the highest-regarded professions in the industry,” said James J. Bakke, President and CEO of Sub-Zero and Wolf. “Each contest introduces us to designers and architects from around the world that set the tone for kitchen design trends and raise the bar for industry.”

Details of the regional winners of this year’s competition will appear in Designer Kitchen & Bathroom next month.

Sub Zero & Wolf  | www.subzero-wolf.co.uk

With over 2,300 exhibitors, ISH can lay claim to being the biggest bathroom show in Europe, but its appeal is generally more about ideas than numbers.Whilst the kitchen sector has Eurocucina (and now Living Kitchen) as the shows for which new launches and prototypes are saved up for, many bathroom manufacturers look to ISH as the place to showcase their latest developments.

But as well as all the new products on show, there is also a host of exhibition features that look to address a range of broad issues that shape the bathroom industry.

Among the special features this time is the ‘barrier-free bathroom’ which will explore the increasing importance of demographic change. With the ‘Age Explorer’ – a special suit that simulates the effects of aging on physical capabilities – visitors will be able to experience for themselves what it is like to be much older.

This will be aligned with a cross-generation bathroom comfort competition, an award intended to highlight innovative bathroom products that combine barrier-free building with comfort and safety.

Elsewhere, the ‘wall + floor’ special show will bring the assortment of innovative products and furnishing concepts for floors and walls to ISH for the first time. Part of the ‘wall + floor’ section will be a central meeting place focusing on creative subjects, such as bathroom interiors, holistic bathroom planning, design and bathroom trends. There will be over 30 workshops and lectures based around the subject of holistic bathroom planning, as well as a presentation of bathroom trends for 2013/14.

In truth, much of the total exhibition floorspace across the sprawling Messe Frankfurt is taken up with the sort of technical HVAC and installer-focused products that can sometimes create the wrong kind of dynamic for more design-conscious visitors. However, with several massive halls dedicated solely to sanitaryware and bathroom furniture product, there is always enough creative innovation on show at ISH to make it a must-visit for anyone involved with bathroom design.

ISH 2013 takes place 12-16 March 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany  | www.ish.messefrankfurt.com

Rock & Bone is the new kitchen and furniture brand from Charlie Smallbone, founder of Smallbone of Devizes and Damian Lawrance, founder and owner of the La Rock specialist joinery workshop in Knaresborough, Yorkshire. Smallbone’s design vision, originating from 30 years in the kitchen and furniture industry, fused with the workmanship of Lawrance’s artisan craftsmen, has resulted in a range of new furniture designs that certainly grab the attention.

Rock & Bone launched its new signature collection on a stand at Maison et Objet in Paris recently. The stand, co-hosted by kitchen appliance brand Sub-Zero & Wolf, featured six original pieces of furniture and Rock & Bone’s newly designed Lateral kitchen collection. Each piece has been handmade in Rock & Bone’s Nidd Valley workshop in Yorkshire.

Smallbone says that the boutique collection does away with the idea of boxy kitchen cabinets in favour of specially designed and built pieces, finished in unique finishes, including metallised lacquers. Fully bespoke, customers can choose from a wide range of customisable options, including metallised finishes, 1950’s-inspired ‘car’ colours and bespoke handles.

Charlie Smallbone on the creation of the new Rock & Bone brand:

“The new designs had to be totally original, as original as I could conceive them in a kitchen lifestyle context. I wanted to work with curves and I wanted to define and create pieces with absolute functionality and beauty. Once I had defined my new system, I wanted to focus on defining each piece as well as I could. This has led me to study larger elements such as kitchen islands within the context of pieces, though these are of course more complex than sideboards and tables. I wanted to consider the multifunctional elements of islands and to try to translate my conclusions to achieve a completeness within my designs – to bring as much aesthetic order to each piece as I could, as well as making sure they do what they are originated to do.”

Form and Function: “To me the devil is in the detail. My background has taught me to try to define what I am setting out to achieve as completely as I can, so once I am happy that I know what it is I am working to create, then I apply these parameters that I have defined to my sketching process, and continue via the creation of 3D CAD models until I am happy that what I am looking at doesn’t just look attractive, but also that I have assimilated the space in a way that will execute the requisite functions.”

Future Thinking: “Rock and Bone is specifically about originality of design and the beauty of the creation of complex forms. Each of our pieces are made within a workshop environment, as this is where we attain accuracy of execution. So we are very busy progressing new pieces and concepts. We are adamant that Rock and Bone has to stand apart from other companies through the originality and complexity of our designs, our artisan craftsman method, the beauty and uniqueness of our finishes, and the fact that all our designs are tailor-made for each project. We’re less interested in defining our efforts as the creation of new ranges.”

Rock & Bone | www.rockandbone.co.uk

Italian

Whilst they have been more prolific in terms of bathroom products, their pedigree in kitchen design is equally impressive. This creation for Elmar for example, is the latest product of a long-standing relationship they have had with the Italian kitchen manufacturer since 2007. They have designed the Slim, Playground, Radical and EL_01 ranges for the brand, but with Isola Cross, the focus this time was more on the open-plan approach that has become so widely accepted… and indeed expected.

“Our primary intent was to create an innovative island system,” they explain, “defined by a trestle-shaped base more usually found under a bench to emphasise the idea of the chef as a kind of artisan.”

“For us, the kitchen remains a room to work in. Isola Cross is the core of a new way of living, made of fluid spaces without any boundaries.”

Custom-made, the Isola Cross has a steel worksurface which is available in various sizes, complete with an integrated hob and sink. It has been designed to be compatible with many other household appliances so the user can make their own choice at time of purchase.

It is perfectly in line with the Palomba’s ethos of creating products that fit seamlessly into their user’s lifestyle. “Our goal is to achieve the desires of the people. Our projects are based on the analysis of behavioural changes. We design products to be shared with those who choose them.

“Today, kitchens are almost tailor-made to the customers’ tastes. We wanted to bring elegance and sophistication to the kitchen.”

Elmar |  www.elmarcucine.com

Laurence Pidgeon |  www.laurencepidgeon.com

 Palomba + Serafini |  www.palombaserafini.com

Open-plan logic suggests that the kitchen needs to be able to keep a low profile when not in use, and yet be primed for a grand reveal when it is called into action. An eye-catching example was on show at Living Kitchen in Cologne last month when Warendorf unveiled its Hidden Kitchen concept design.

Already in receipt of an Interior Innovation Award from the German Design Council, the kitchen is the ultimate in conversation pieces. The kitchen run is concealed within bookend tall units and hidden behind large panels, only coming into view when needed.

At the touch of a button, the central section of the wall of units – across a length of five metres – opens up to reveal the working space with storage areas, shelving, extractor and integrated lighting.

Positioned around the flexible working area and integrated behind the fronts are storage units, pull-outs and electrical appliances, which continue to be accessible even when the central niche is closed.

The surface chosen for the Hidden Kitchen has a natural rust finish. It is made up of a special mixture of iron particles which is sprayed on by hand in the same way as a lacquer coating. The degree of oxidation of the rust finish can be finely altered so each front is unique.

Over a total length of seven metres, the rust on the imposing wall combination radiates earthy warmth but with a bold industrial accent, whether the kitchen is in the open or closed position.

Warendorf | www.warendorf.eu