House of Rohl Partners with Award-Winning Practice, Michaelis Boyd for WOW!house 2024

House of Rohl is delighted to once again be part of the interiors event of the Summer, WOW!house at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour from 4th June – 4th July. For its third installation, House of Rohl has collaborated with renowned architecture and interior design practice, Michaelis Boyd, to create a primary bathroom suite that offers a space for tranquillity, relaxation and luxury escapism.

The suite features the statement Taizu circular bath from Victoria + Albert, made for the first time in a subtle Matt finish, and presented with an on-trend Olive Green exterior. This is matched with Perrin & Rowe Georgian brassware in a beautiful Satin Brass finish from the House of Rohl portfolio. The design project was led by Christina Gregoriou, a Partner at Michaelis Boyd who saw the design as “An opportunity to reframe our traditional understanding of the bathroom, elevating it from a place for private time to a luxurious experience.”

Taking place from the 4th June – 4th July, WOW!house is built within the Design Avenue and is a one-of-a-kind showhouse stretching 500 sqm2 with 19 full-size rooms and outdoor spaces to be explored. Nigel Palmer, Head of Communications Marketing for House of Rohl said, “Now in its third year, WOW!house has become one of the pre-eminent interiors events in Europe. As one of the event’s initial sponsors, House of Rohl is delighted to be involved once again. Christina and her team at Michaelis Boyd have conceived a spectacular bathroom, full of flair and imagination, wholly original and meticulously planned. It is the perfect showcase for our Perrin & Rowe and Victoria + Albert brands, and has many clever ideas for visitors to take away.”

On specifying Victoria + Albert’s Taizu bath Christina said, “The Taizu bath was the perfect ‘protagonist’ in both style and scale. Once its location was decided the remaining design and layout unfolded from there”. Surrounding the bath within an uplit dome is an ethereal woodland mural by French artist Claire Basler. Claire was commissioned for her outstanding attention to detail and an ability to encapsulate serenity, with a sense of movement within her work.

The brassware is from Perrin & Rowe’s Georgian collection in Satin Brass. Christina comments, “We love the craftsmanship of Perrin & Rowe, from the hand-poured casting to the perfectionism of the final polishing. The Georgian collection gives the bathroom a root in tradition.”

The charming feature vanity unit was designed and built by Goldfinger. Finished with a Rainforest Green marble from Diespeker, it includes two Laceno 56 basins, new this year from Victoria + Albert. They are paired with Perrin & Rowe Georgian Wall Mounted Basin Mixer taps, once again in Satin Brass. The vanity unit is wrapped in a ruffled skirt made of ‘Old Hollywood, Flame’, a linen-blend material by de Le Cuona.

The bathroom was strategically designed to include transitional areas of separation with areas to bathe, wash and rest. To achieve this, the team created a chequerboard effect by using Encaustic and Zellige tiles from the Mosaic Factory in three sizes to create a visual and whimsical transition for the occupier to navigate the space. Within the more intimate areas of the bathroom, the Koyohen Border tiles in ‘Vintage Green’ from Raven were chosen for their sleek design. The flecks of amber compliment the warm tones of the timber and marble. The team strategically positioned the tiles vertically to extenuate the curvature of the shower area, powder room and drying area. To complement the natural colour palette, the woodwork including the skirting boards and door architraves are painted in ‘Invisible Green’ by Little Greene.

Offering a place to reflect and relax, a bespoke daybed, designed and built by Goldfinger, is upholstered by Lawson Wood in a linen fabric named ‘Douce Nightscape’ from LF Trading. Above, a show-stopping Diamond Olive Chandelier (Amber) from COX London is positioned above. Michaelis Boyd’s design ethos of ‘luxurious design should tread lightly on the planet’ influenced Christina’s decision to render the bathroom’s walls and dome with Clayworks; a clay plaster made of unique blends of unfired clays mixed with minerals and pigments to provide healthy, breathable internal finishes.

Diversity and sustainability are core themes to this year’s WOW!house. Perrin & Rowe’s two UK sites in Wolverhampton and Rainham in East London reflect their diverse communities, helped by local apprenticeships. Victoria + Albert’s South African factory provides skilled manufacturing jobs in an area where there are few. Like many responsible organisations, House of Rohl has a long-term programme to enhance the sustainability of its processes, but there has always been a focus on making products that last, avoiding the need for wasteful replacement. Perrin & Rowe, for example, stock spares for almost every tap they have ever made. Their Customer Services team in Rainham take pride in helping owners make old taps work like new.

At the inaugural WOW!house, the House of Rohl bathroom was conceived by 2LG Studio, who created a ‘Cave of Wonders’ that provided an alternate reality to escape to in a Covid-affected year. In 2023, Studio Mico deftly blended influences from many cultures, choosing natural materials and textures to create a bathroom that felt entirely original, yet resonated with every visitor to the space. This year, the ‘Maximalist Whimsy’ of Michaelis Boyd’s delightful design offers their own unique take on a luxury bathroom. Christina comments, “The bathroom has an intimate, tranquil feel and sanctuary aesthetic, making it a room where you feel at peace and want to spend time.”

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Following the success of the award-winning Armstrong kitchen collection, the British brassware and sanitaryware manufacturer Perrin & Rowe has taken this design DNA into the bathroom. Combining an industrial aesthetic with a designer’s eye for balance and proportion, Armstrong offers a luxurious take on a pared-back design trend, with distinctive knurled handles and raised levers paying homage to our industrial past.

Perrin & Rowe’s foundry in Wolverhampton is just a short walk from the former site of the Stafford Road Railway Works. From 1858, it produced over 800 steam engines for the Great Western Railway. Most were designed by two brothers, Joseph and George Armstrong. Intended as durable workhorses, their locomotives still stir the emotions today. Perrin & Rowe’s Armstrong bathroom collection has been inspired by these brothers, transforming the purely functional into a model of timeless elegance.

Beautifully proportioned with restrained detailing, the Armstrong bathroom collection is one of the most comprehensive ranges Perrin & Rowe has ever launched. For basins, there is a single lever mixer and a dual lever mixer, both available as wall-mounted or deck-mounted. There is a complete Shower Set with hand-shower and overhead rose. Accessories include robe hooks, a paper holder, a towel bar or towel ring, and a matching built-in soap dispenser for a cohesive design. The standout piece is perhaps the freestanding bath-shower mixer. It takes 4-5 hours of skilled polishing to bring this glorious bathroom centrepiece to final perfection.

As with all Perrin & Rowe brassware, the collection is designed by the in-house design team at Rainham in East London. Tap bodies are forged at the Perrin & Rowe foundry in the Black Country using the highest quality brass, poured by hand at 1700° Fahrenheit into moulds. After machining, specialist polishers develop the deep, lustrous finish. It’s a time-consuming and painstaking task.

Armstrong can be specified in Chrome, Nickel or Pewter or a choice of special finishes; 24-carat Gold, Polished Brass, Satin Brass, and English Bronze. Perrin & Rowe’s two brass finishes are unlacquered, so will develop a unique patina over time, enhancing the beauty of the surface. For a true industrial look, English Bronze offers a darker metallic finish that brings out the detail of the knurled handles.

In discussions at House of Rohl’s London showroom, interior designers expressed a strong interest in a range of luxury bathroom brassware with an industrial edge. The Armstrong bathroom collection has been created to match this demand. Previewed earlier this at ISH in Frankfurt and Design Week in London, the initial reaction to the bathroom collection was as positive as it had been for the kitchen collection, some 2½ years earlier. It has already been shortlisted for an international design award by the Society of British & International Interior Designers (SBID). Armstrong is now available in the UK and most EMEAA markets.

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