Modern bathroom innovations direct from Europe

Freiburg to Auckland is a long way to travel but, for Albrecht von der Groeben, chief of international sales of German bathroom manufacturer Duravit, it was certainly worth it.

Von der Groeben visited New Zealand in late November for a whirlwind three-day trip that centred around a showcase evening at Duravit’s supplier Metrix Bathrooms’ showroom in Parnell.

The wine was flowing and spirits were high at the invite-only event, where von der Groeben gave a fascinating talk to an engaged crowd of architects and interior designers about the European company, their latest technologies, products, and future plans.

Von der Groeben says, “Duravit and Metrix Bathrooms’ working relationship is 25 years strong and, more than that, we have established a great friendship. Duravit has a strong market in New Zealand and, although it is small, the country has many open-minded, talented architects and a lot of interesting projects and new construction.”

While Duravit’s core business is ceramic toilets and basins, over the past couple of years they have expanded their range greatly and now offer furniture, tapware, bathroom wellbeing products, and much more.

“Apart from tiles, you can now buy everything that goes into the bathroom from Duravit,” says von der Groeben.

“This is a huge advantage for people developing projects as you can source all of the products you need from one supplier, there is one person to deal with for any service issues and, from a functional point of view, everything matches. We are also now focusing on providing systems rather than individual products.”

A high focus on quality design and aesthetics comes through in all Duravit’s offerings. The company has a long relationship with well-known French designer Philippe Starck, in addition to many other top European designers such as EOOS, Frank Huster, Norman Foster, Christian Werner and Matteo Thun.

The design of toilets is one of the areas that is changing the most quickly from an aesthetics, comfort and function point of view, von der Groeben says. “The trend around the world today is towards wall-hung toilets with low water consumption. This type of streamlined design allows you to have more space in the bathroom, with the addition of the hygienic rimless flush also growing in popularity.”

Attendees of the Duravit showcase event enjoyed walking around Metrix Bathrooms’ showroom and discovering the XSquare and DuraSquare ranges.

XSquare is a relatively new range in New Zealand and is designed by Swiss/Ghanaian designer Kurt Merki Jr. Elements include a contemporary yet elegant design, high-quality surfaces and materials, and striking chrome profiles.

DuraSquare, by contrast, fuses striking rectangular lines and precise edges that complement its softer, organic inner contours. The range is made from the innovative ceramic material DuraCeram.

Another highlight discussed on the evening is the celebrated ME by Starck range, a modern yet timeless bathroom series with pieces that can be highly individualised but still all work perfectly together.

The event was wrapped up with a sneak preview of some of the products from Duravit’s new range, which will be launched to the public in March 2019 at ISH, the world’s leading bathroom fair in Frankfurt. Among other new ideas, there will be a focus on the merging of ceramic surfaces with furniture to create seamless edges and innovative design.

Bathrooms are developing into one of the most important rooms in the house – becoming more design-conscious, technology-savvy and functional – so, no doubt, we will see increasing innovation in this area in the future.

Planning your bathroom and wanting to find out more about the extensive Duravit range from Metrix Bathrooms? Visit them on ArchiPro here or pop into their Parnell showroom in Auckland.