Hear from leading lighting designer, Sanjit Bahra from Design Plus Light, as he explores how lighting is instrumental in defining the new retail experience.
The world of retail was significantly changed as a result of the pandemic, pushing it further into the online market. For physical retail spaces to compete successfully, the focus needs to be on the shopping experience, often more than the actual commodity. We live in very tumultuous times, where people are very anxious about the space they are in and people around them. The new retail environment needs to make people feel calm and safe. People don’t walk into spaces and make intellectual judgements; they just make emotional snap-decisions.
Lighting is key in determining the human, psychological response to a space – it is an important aspect in the ‘commerce’ of the retail experience.
Event Programme:
– Arrival: 6pm
– Talk starts: 6:30pm
– Q&A: 7:15pm
– Drinks & canapés: 7:30 – 8:30pm
RSVP to attend
VitrA London invites you to join a panel of industry experts to explore the relationship between colour and space – a discussion ranging from homes to hospitality environments and beyond.
Is colour best shouted loud or whispered quietly? Is it all about fashion? And what do colour decisions communicate about people and values?
Wednesday 19 October 2022
18:00 Welcome drinks
18:30 Panel discussion
19.00 Q&A
19:30 Drinks reception (until 21:00)
The VitrA London showroom will run a series of free virtual reality (VR) experience sessions. 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.
Register to attend
As part of the London Design Festival and 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 20 – 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.
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”.
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.”
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, contact to RSVP.
Only a few days before London Design Festival returns on Saturday 17 September! For a whole week, LDF will celebrate and promote the city as a design capital on the global stage, offering an expansive programme of over 13 design disciplines, ranging from digital design and art, to landscape, interiors and materials.
Are you ready to dive into the world of design? Read the SBID’s helpful guide to the festival to plan your diary, get inspired and engage with the design industry. Ensure you don’t miss any important events and CPD sessions from SBID members!
London Design Festival 2022
Where: Multiple venues across London
When: 17 – 25 September
Arper joins LDF in celebrating the city’s creativity in newly restyled London showroom to present its latest 2022 collections with a range of engaging events and creative activities across Clerkenwell Design Trail.
Learn more
An immersive installation of pioneering designs showcases objects developed by Zaha Hadid Design over the past 15 years. The exhibition fills the sculptural spaces of the striking gallery designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in 2011.
Kohler invites you to explore their recently refurbished London showroom in Clerkenwell, attend an exclusive Breakfast Meeting with networking, talk and tour, and discover the latest product innovations in the KBB sector.
Parkside are hosting a Breakfast Club with live CPD event alongside fresh pastries and coffee as part of the Clerkenwell Design Trail! Unlock knowledge on tiling patterns, innovations in sustainable materials and how to specify bespoke surfaces.
House of Rohl’s networking brunch in partnership with SBID will bring together a collection of luxury kitchen and bathroom brands and provide an opportunity to meet peers and exchange ideas.
VitrA London showroom will run a series of free virtual reality CPD experience sessions, where they will turn bathroom designs into 4-D, enabling people to explore a fully immersive virtual bathroom space.
RAK Ceramics Design Hub is an interactive and immersive environment to inspire – explore the latest in bathroom designs, materials, finishes and colours with exclusive showroom tour, showcasing RAK Ceramics ranges, kitchen taps, and brassware.
Drop by Karndean’s Commercial Showroom to grab a mocktail or a bite to eat, meet the team and view an exclusive collection preview – take a first look at their new abstract flooring designs launching this autumn!
EDGE presents a variety of products, installations, CPDs, workshops, talks and events surrounding sustainable design, highlighting the industry’s best in circular products and materials for living and working spaces.
VitrA is hosting an immersive colour experience using artwork by Carnovsky, which experiments with the interaction between colour in print and light form.
Bolon is showcasing their latest products, celebrating the launch of new colour palettes for their bestselling collections, and holding a variety of talks on sustainability during the London Design Festival week.
The art of high-tech returns as Cosentino celebrates breathtaking new collections at the Cosentino City Showroom. Presenting award-winning carbon neutral materials with ‘DJ Nadia Noudle’ and tapas.
Bolon is hosting a CPD session led by Bolon’s visionary Head of Sustainability Håkan Nordin to learn about how Bolon’s experience in sustainable design has informed their approach and understanding of the circular economy today.
EDGE (Eco Design Green Environment) is celebrating their first anniversary with a short talks programme focusing on sustainability and regenerative thinking.
If you’d like to publish your news or features with SBID, get in touch to find out more.
If you’d like to join our community and become Accredited, click here for more information.
Three distinct furniture styles, seventeen colour choices, three vanity basins and two brassware styles make the new Root range by VitrA one of the most flexible and customisable collections on the market.
Root is a complete bathroom solution with furniture, basins, taps, showers and storage units all within the range. With three different design options as well as various textures, colours and sizes, Root allows for a truly personalised bathroom experience.
Root furniture is available in a choice of three different designs: flat, groove and classic. Flat – a simple style for those with a minimalist taste; Groove – a contemporary option with a panelled style; and Classic – a modern take on shaker design.
Interior designers can choose from seventeen assorted colours, including retro green, dark blue, pearl grey and walnut in three types of finish – gloss, matt, or wood. The matt colours have a PVC finish which is highly durable with a water absorption rate of 0.5%. The gloss and wood colours have a PET finish which is a sustainable material produced by 100% recycled plastic and is both heat and moisture resistant.
Handle options include matt black, chrome and matt white, with two distinct styles to suit the different furniture designs.
A choice of three washbasins – Integra, Integra Classic and Zentrum – provide further flexibility. Integra washbasins have a deep basin with flat edges, Integra Classic has a short upstand at the back, creating a more traditional look, and Zentrum basins have a more geometrical outer with a rounded internal basin shape.
The brassware is available in two styles, Root Round and Root Square, and in five colours, chrome, brushed nickel, copper, matt black and gold, across the array of basin, bath, and shower mixers.
To help designers in their bathroom design journey, VitrA has developed the Root Configurator. This online tool allows users to experiment with the various styles, colour finishes and sizes to find the perfect bathroom design. In addition to the washbasin units, the tool includes the taps and additional storage units available to enable users to design their whole bathroom space.
Find out more about Root, by downloading the brochure or by visiting the microsite.
About VitrA
VitrA is recognised for beautiful products that consumers love to use, aspire to own and are proud to have in their homes. As part of the Eczacıbaşı Group, VitrA draws on a century of captivating design, genuine innovation, and eco-conservation to produce outstanding bathroom products. Working with globally renowned designers such as Tom Dixon, Sebastian Conran and Ross Lovegrove, VitrA has created a ground-breaking, inclusive portfolio of award-winning products to suit all.
If you’d like to feature your product news here, get in touch to find out more.
If you’d like to become SBID Accredited, click here for more information.
VitrA introduces Liquid – a new bathroom range designed in collaboration with Tom Dixon. Liquid is the first ever bathroom range by the acclaimed British designer.
The range is the latest addition to VitrA’s portfolio of designer collaborations, part of a long-standing programme of working with world-renowned designers to create distinctive, modern bathroom collections to complement any washroom space. The Liquid range is founded on round-edges, generous shapes and timeless designs. Described by Tom Dixon as ‘contemporary without being of the moment’, it offers an alternative to the widespread skinny, minimalist designs.
Liquid encompasses all elements of the bathroom – sanitaryware, furniture, taps, tiles, showers and accessories – designed to work together or as stand-alone pieces.
The range includes a variety of washbasin options, including round basins, a butler sink and a double washbasin, as well as a statement monoblock washbasin which is moulded as a single piece of ceramic. The furniture units are available in either a fluted glass or a black metal mesh door finish. Alternatively, for a striking contrast, there is an open-storage unit with impressive blue glass shelving.
Liquid’s taps combine conical handles with exuberant tubular bodies. Ten different styles of taps include wall-mounted, deck-mounted and built-in options, as well as touchless, are all available in gloss black or chrome. The all-in-one shower column includes a hand shower that connects magnetically to the body, while the stainless steel floor-mounted shower can be used inside or outside.
Liquid’s range of toilets, bidets and urinals carry the collection’s monumental curves. The toilets and bidets come in wall-hung or floor-standing designs, and the urinal uses touchless technology.
The range also includes a suite of accessories including a hook, toilet roll holder, toilet brush holder and double soap dispenser. The accessories also incorporate ceramic pieces, including shelves in two lengths and a stool which can act as a practical addition, not just for the bathroom, but in other living spaces too.
The wall tiles in Liquid feature four different styles of embossed dots and waves that reflect ripples in the water, and can be creatively configured in an almost endless possibility of ways. Available in five colours – white, black, ecru, grey and sage green.
With a capacity to develop and manufacture all the products that may be needed in a bathroom, VitrA secures its position in the industry by giving priority to R&D and working with leading international designers. Earning approximately three quarters of its revenues from foreign markets. Born and raised in the cultural motherland of ceramics and baths -a.k.a. the ‘hammams’- VitrA is among only a few companies in the world which is able to design, develop, and manufacture all the products that are used in a bathroom.
SBID caught up with this year’s SBID International Design Awards sponsor for the KBB Design category. Margaret Talbot, Marketing Manager at VitrA UK shares more about the story behind the brand; from its very beginnings as a Ceramic Factory in Turkey to it’s current standing in the international sanitary and brassware market, VitrA highlights some of the incredible work they do with interior designers and the industry.
What are the origins of your brand?
VitrA’s heritage can be traced back to 1909, when the renowned Turkish pharmacist Süleyman Ferit Eczacibaşi began producing bathing and cologne products in his pharmacy in Izmir. The Dr Nejat Eczacıbaşı Ceramic Factory, as it was then called, was the forerunner to VitrA. After the Second World War, there came economic revival and an increased demand for ceramic sanitaryware. In 1958 the company opened its first modern production plant and by 1966 became known as VitrA. In order to diversify the company, a brassware plant was opened in 1979. The brand, now an uncontested force in the market, was launched internationally in 1983.
How do you work with interior designers?
When working with an interior designer, a clear and open dialogue is crucial. The VitrA team immerses themselves in each project, gaining full understanding of the designer’s aims, as well as the challenges that any individual project may pose. To ensure the VitrA team clearly understand the designer’s vision, the first step is for them to provide a brief and an initial mood board to define the scope of their work and provide valuable details on materials, colours and their initial considerations for the bathroom design.
Then follows the conceptual development stage. At this point, a layout design with more technical information and specifications is produced. A specification manager from the VitrA team will use their technical expertise to anticipate and solve any potential problems before they arise to ensure the project runs smoothly all the way through to completion. The designer is heavily involved and works closely with the VitrA team at every stage – this means that both parties, as well as the end client, are pleased with the finished project.
What value does your sector add to the interior design industry?
VitrA is passionate about challenging traditional views of the bathroom as a purely functional space and enabling designers to express their creativity in an often-overlooked area.
Led by our Design Director, Erdem Akan, VitrA’s highly accomplished in-house creative team represent the backbone of our design philosophy and culture. They are supported by the multi-disciplinary teams at the VitrA Innovation Centre, which was built as a place for architects and designers to free their imagination and express flair in their product design, while also feeling safe in the knowledge that our specification managers are on hand to ensure that all products meet both the technical and aesthetic demands.
This creativity manifests itself in VitrA’s collaborations with world-renowned designers such as Claudio Bellini for Equal, Ross Lovegrove for Istanbul, Terri Pecora for Plural and Matteo Thun & Partners for Water Jewels.
How does your offering enhance an interior designer’s projects?
Superior quality, supply of product and reliable versatility are hallmarks of the VitrA brand, and every component of the bathroom benefits from VitrA’s strong focus on advanced technology and imaginative design. The dedicated team of VitrA product designers collaborate with top global experts to establish new and innovate ideas that enhance not only bathroom aesthetics and functionality, but also each interior designer’s projects.
What are the latest trends you’ve noticed in your client’s requests?
The new ‘Living Bathroom’ concept presents the bathroom as an informal living space. This evolution of the bathroom ritual celebrates wellness and the joy of spending time in the bathroom. American designer Terri Pecora’s Plural collection for VitrA presents the bathroom as a social hub where people can meet and reconnect. Another big trend of note is the use of geometric shapes and monochrome tones, as used in the Equal collection by Claudio Bellini. Using clean, minimal borders and industrial, metallic accents, Bellini’s designs emulate the structures found in modernist architecture.
Why did you want to become a sponsor for the SBID Awards?
We are pleased to be a sponsor of the SBID Awards as they are one of the most prestigious interior awards in the design calendar. VitrA is keen to support interior designers and their fantastic work in the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom sector.
The SBID International Design Awards winners for 2019 will be announced on Friday 25th October!
To book a table to attend this year’s prestigious Awards, click here
To find out more about sponsoring the SBID International Design Awards next year, click here
Held on 14th – 22nd September 2019, London Design Festival is an annual event, designed to celebrate and promote London as the design capital of the world and as the gateway to the international creative community. The event stages several major trade shows, known as ‘Design Destinations’ throughout the week. These are the commercial pillars of the Festival and are key meeting places for designers, manufacturers, buyers, specifiers, the media and design enthusiasts to discover new product releases and identify current trends. We’re sharing exciting news from some of the SBID Members which are set to exhibit with their latest releases and collection launches during this year’s London Design Festival.
Visit Arper at the Arper Design Lounge at 100% Design
Arper returns to the 25th edition of 100% Design from 18-21 September as sponsor of the show. To mark this occasion, this year Arper will be hosting the Arper Design Lounge, a soft, inspiring area where visitors of the show can come together, share ideas and read magazines by the show’s official media partners, while enjoying free charging points. Arper Design Lounge is a central feature of the show and will include a showcase of iconic Arper collections within an engaging setting, perfect to unwind, meet and network.
At 4pm on Friday 20th September Arper Design Lounge will present a live episode of Icon Minds: My Life in Design, in collaboration with Icon Magazine. Icon Magazine editor Priya Khanchandani will engage in conversation with London-based artist Camille Walala to discuss her professional life and the main influences in her work.
Design with Elite Stone’s luxurious raw materials at 100% Design
Elite Stone exhibits with a single area characterised by colours. The materials used are precious such as Breccia Pontificia, Sahara Noir and Calacatta Borghini; representing the best selection in Italy and in the world, all Made in Italy. The elegant and sophisticated atmosphere is inspired by the lobby of luxury hotels around the world for a contemporary and cosmopolitan atmosphere. The architecture of the stand focuses attention on the book-matched realised in Breccia Pontificia and the floor too, which invites you to enter and discover the Elite Stone World.
FCI London showcase Italian brand’s Gamma and Naos at 100% Design
FCI London, the UK’s largest contemporary furniture showroom, will be showcasing two of its most popular Italian brands, Gamma and Naos, at 100% Design 2019 – the unmissable destination for design. Gamma is renowned for its innovative sofa collection and for being the ‘leather experts’ with their love and knowledge for the material. On the other hand, Naos challenges the laws of motion with its extending dining and coffee tables, that move effortlessly through their unique mechanisms. Both these brands have distinguished themselves in the international markets for their high-quality products, innovation, research and their love for elegant designs. They also wish to further the “Made in Italy” identity, not only in design but also in manufacturing by having as much of the product made in-house as possible.
The product line-up for 100% Design includes the latest furniture and stellar accessories from Gamma, Naos as well as some other exclusive brands. You can admire FCI London’s curated display at stands B9 and B10.
VitrA announces first UK premiere of Claudio Bellini collaboration at designjunction 2019
Leading bathroom brand VitrA has chosen to premiere Equal, its latest designer collaboration, in the UK for the first time at designjunction 2019. This year VitrA will be showing Equal and Origin, as well as unveiling the latest additions to Plural by Terri Pecora. The new Equal collection by Claudio Bellini makes use of geometric shapes and monochrome tones. Using clean, minimal borders and industrial, metallic accents, Bellini’s designs emulate the structures found in modernist architecture. The collection features a mirror with integrated LED lighting, a selection of storage and washbasin units, and a wall-hung WC. The contemporary and versatile nature of the delicate, structured design makes it ideal for both commercial and residential spaces.
Terri Pecora’s award-winning Plural collection will also be showcased. For this range, Pecora reimagined the washroom as a living space, using smooth, rounded edges and solid woods to emulate furniture usually found in other rooms of the home. The set will feature the free-standing vanity unit and wall-hung WC, paired with Vetro flush plate. VitrA will also be showing the Origin collection of brassware, including a newshowerhead, shower mixer and range of basin mixers. Available in four different finishes (Brushed Nickel, Chrome, Copper and Matt Black), Origin offers an integrated and charming finishing touch to the bathroom.
James Latham and Hi-Macs® cast a positive light on mental illness at designjunction 2019
Two five metre-tall interactive sculptures, designed by multi-award winning British designer, Steuart Padwick will be erected in King’s Cross shortly for this year’s designjunction event (19-22 Sept) as part of London Design Festival.
The giant cuboid figures have been created in support of mental health anti-stigma initiative, Time To Change, and have been skilfully formed using Douglas Fir to convey warmth and humanity, using off-site construction technologies. However, it is the imposing, interactive ‘concrete’ blocks – representing their ‘emotional burdens’ – that truly bring these dramatic, public art spectacles to life. These cubes have been manufactured from HI-MACS® natural acrylic stone (in colour G555 Steel Concrete), supplied by main UK distributor, James Latham and fabricated by Preston based, We Are Limitless Limited (WALL).
For all visitors to the London Design Festival and designjunction, James Latham is holding a one-day HI-MACS® walk-in workshop on 19th September at their Design Showroom in the Business Design Centre, Islington, just one tube stop away from Kings Cross. Here, visitors can learn more about the product and witness inspirational demonstrations of thermoforming, sublimation and more.
Cosentino City London Celebrates LDF with ‘Carved in Stone’ Installation
Leading Spanish manufacturer of surfaces for architecture and design, Cosentino, is delighted to be celebrating London Design Festival with the ‘Carved in Stone’ installation’. Leading architects were invited to put forward their proposed designs in line with the theme: ‘Life on Mars‘, with five winning entries hand selected by a panel of judges, including members of the Cosentino and Cuellar families.
These entries will be brought to life by craftsmen from Cuellar Stone in Spain, who will carve these intricate sculptures out of blocks of Macael Marble, measuring 500 x 500 x 500mm. Marble has been chosen as the material as it signifies the very beginning of Cosentino. Historically, some of the greatest designers in history have used marble, from Agra’s Taj Mahal, London’s Marble Arch and Michelangelo’s ‘David’.
The five marble sculptures will be on show at the Cosentino City London showroom for visitors to admire throughout London Design Festival. The designers will be visiting the showroom during the week to offer visitors a glimpse of the inspirational stories behind their fantastic designs.
Armani/Roca is set to showcase at The Bathroom Gallery, London Design Fair
Armani/Roca will be exhibiting at this year’s London Design Fair as part of an exclusive new exhibition. The Bathroom Gallery, which is in partnership with Elle Decoration, will bring together leading bathroom brands and is the first and only event at LDF dedicated solely to the bathroom industry.
On the stand, visitors will have the chance to see the new Armani/Roca Baia collection in a truly unique setting. With the new Baia collection, Giorgio Armani once again shows his commitment to promoting comfort and wellbeing, expressing his vision of the bathroom environment through a combination of elements that allow maximum flexibility and adaptability. Particular attention has been paid to the ergonomics of each piece. The aesthetic intentionally references the past, but the retro styling has been interpreted in a modern manner and incorporates avant-garde technology. The result is a new versatile bathroom collection, which manages to be both contemporary and timeless, in accordance with Giorgio Armani’s well-known design philosophy.
The Bathroom Gallery is an exclusive exhibition taking place on the second floor of the Old Truman Brewery from the 19th – 22nd September. Armani/Roca will be in Hall 11 and on stand number 11.
Craig & Rose celebrate the launch of 11 new shades with special colour installation, Colour Way
Craig & Rose marks its evolution from one of the UK’s oldest luxury paint manufacturers to paint protagonists by way of a special colour installation for the 2019 edition of the London Design Fair. To celebrate the launch of 11 new shades, the progressive Scottish brand will unveil a creative structure which nod’s discreetly to this year’s overarching theme of ‘Bauhaus’, whilst honouring the design movement’s modernist principles of ‘honesty’ and ‘simplicity’. The aim of the presentation is to ‘free’ architects and designers, empowering them with clear contemporary colour direction, all suitable for practical adoption. With two immersive areas, the installations take the visitor on a special journey to experience, explore, and develop their own personal relationships with a series of carefully curated combinations.
Adopting this approach, Craig & Rose has commissioned the creative colour agency, Calzada Fox to spearhead the overall concept and lead on art direction. The result of this will be a highly distinctive and interactive space devised to challenge existing perceptions around colour. In addition, East London’s architectural practice Studio Shaw, best known for its original approach, has also been tasked with executing an exciting three dimensional structure amplifying the ideas within.
Sutherland Furniture launch The Otti Collection during London Design Festival 2019
Leading luxury outdoor furniture brand, Sutherland Furniture, has collaborated with global design icon Vincent Van Duysen, to launch The Otti Collection, a collective of 11 intuitive pieces of furniture available Autumn 2019. The Otti Lounge Chair and Otti Dining Armchair feature lightweight aluminum powder coat frames with Perennials rope base and back. The intriguing weave from base to arm pushes the boundary of minimalist design into Van Duysen’s essentialist style. Similarly, the Otti Three-Seat Sofa embraces Van Duysen’s fluid design approach with a slender seamless frame. The body of the sofa is formed by intersecting Perennials ropes that offer both comfort and support, while imposing architectural elements. The resulting woven design perfectly encompasses Van Duysen’s spatial aesthetic.
Meet Vincent Van Duysen and David Sutherland for the new collection launch on Monday 16th of September, 10:30am at Sutherland Perennials Studio, 3rd Floor Centre Dome, Chelsea Harbour Design Centre!
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