AS A BATHROOM MANUFACTURER IN A SPECIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Interview mit Alberto Magrans

Mr Magrans, Laufen is one of the most exciting brands in the bathroom industry today.
What is the secret of its success?

Alberto Magrans / Laufen continues to ask questions and is still hungry, although we can look back on a tradition of more than 125 years. We don’t rest on our laurels but constantly drive forward innovations and design – this is deeply embedded in our DNA. We aim to appeal to people with high-quality, emotional and functional products for the bathroom environment. The basis for this is provided by our enthusiastic employees and the intelligent interconnection of materials, production processes and design management which we have established at Laufen.

interview_saphir_keramik

SaphirKeramik – Material Innovation

As is generally known, SaphirKeramik has been one of the central innovations of Laufen in recent years. What are the next steps here?

AM / SaphirKeramik has fundamentally changed the ground rules in the bathroom. We are working with the third generation in the meantime and are opening up totally new aspects besides the thin-wall design. Since we have control over the material in the industrial process, we can now offer new typologies, i.e. new potential applications, for the washbasin area in addition to new forms: For example, double washbasins with a considerably reduced width, bowl washbasins with an integrated overflow or standing washbasins with a minimal footprint – this is new and wasn’t practicable with traditional bathroom ceramics. I think that this is just the beginning.

Where do you see additional potentials emerging in the bathroom? What is the way forward?

AM / In conjunction with leading international experts, we are analysing usage patterns and how people behave in the domestic bathroom. Infrastructural aspects such as the drainage system are also a top priority in this respect. I think that the appropriate use of drinking water is a fundamental issue for the future which concerns us all – I consider this to be a particular responsibility for us as a bathroom manufacturer. Water should not be a vehicle for sewage and waste in future but be incorporated in closed loop systems in which this precious resource is reused to its full potential. For this reason, we have also entered into an exciting collaborative partnership with the Austrian design agency EOOS, a recipient of funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in order to further develop its revolutionary proposal for completely self-contained sanitary facilities.

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1963 – 1969 KURT OHNSORG- Symposia at the Laufen factory in Gmunden, Germany Ceramics as material in contemporary art

Kartell by Laufen

Laufen Forum – Showroom am Hauptsitz

Sustainability is undoubtedly a matter of survival for the human race.
What does this mean for the everyday production environment in the company?

AM / It goes without saying that our particular responsibility as a bathroom manufacturer starts with the selection of the material, extends through the production and ends in the recyclability of our products. Laufen attaches the greatest importance to environmentally compatible manufacturing and uses energy and raw materials sparingly in all levels from development to marketing. For example, we use the waste heat generated in the production process in our factories for drying the sanitary ware. However, the most important emission of a company is the product itself. We have therefore had the ecological quality of our complete ceramic product range certified for all our central European works by means of an EPD according to ISO14025, EN15804 and EN16578.

pee power

pee power live test – Bio Brennstoffzellen erzeugen aus Urin Strom. Bristol Robotics Laboratory design by EOOS

Another topic: We eagerly await the new collections of Laufen. What can we look forward to in the sphere of design?

AM / A highlight is our new SaphirKeramik collection “The New Classic”, which was designed for Laufen by Marcel Wanders. The name speaks for itself, because Wanders has re-interpreted classic forms in the bathroom with SaphirKeramik. The design brings a human touch to the bathroom and alludes to times gone by, poetry and romance, without neglecting modern-day needs and the modern sense of style.

Furthermore, we have worked on the further development of “Sonar” in conjunction with Patricia Urquiola. This highly decorative and exquisite collection previously consisted of washbasins and bathtubs. It has now been extended to the complete bathroom with WCs, bathroom furniture and accessories. Patricia Urquiola has worked with a great deal of sensitivity to ensure that the typical language of form of the collection can also be found in the new pieces.

It goes without saying that we have been working hard on updating and expanding our product range and are bringing new developments to almost all areas – in front of the wall and behind it. Even such successful and popular collections as Kartell by Laufen, Val or Laufen Pro are being provided with new options which give the bathroom designer even more freedom and also result in substantial benefits for the user.

Speaking of benefits. Laufen launched Cleanet Riva, a shower toilet with a focus on comfort in the sphere of hygiene and operation.
Is there anything new to announce here? AM

AM / The shower toilet is another success story of our company which we wish to update. With Cleanet Navia, we have therefore developed an additional version which has been uncompromisingly reduced to the bare bones to emphasise user benefit. Whereas Riva is aimed at user comfort in all respects, Navia should be considered as an upgrade of a classic WC. It will attract additional customer groups with its compact design, simple functions and attractive price. We have also retained the tried-and-tested intuitive operating concept of Riva in Navia, with a lateral controller for the standard functions and an app for an enhanced range of functions.

 

NAVIA – Dusch-WC

The New Classic

SaphirKeramik Kollektion The New Classic, design by Marcel Wanders

Sonar by Patricia Urquiola

SaphirKeramik Collection Sonar, design by Patricia Urquiola

 

Laufen forum event

Cultural events at the Laufen Forum, Switzerland

 

This brings us to another issue. What is Laufen’s position with regard to digitisation in the bathroom?

AM / Connectivity and digitisation have been on our agenda for a while now. However, we are focusing on public and semi-public sanitary facilities at the moment. Maximum benefit is offered here. We have further developed our “Digital Public Bathrooms” concept, which was introduced for the first time in 2015, into a complete solution for the connectivity of electronic washbasin taps and urinal and shower controls in public areas. This presents a number of advantages for fitters, building operators and building owners as well as caretakers and technical services employees. They can use our concept to set, control and monitor a complete sanitary installation quickly and easily via their smartphone or tablet. // 

Laufen at Salone del Mobile

The Laufen booth at Salone del Mobile
from the Swiss architects Fuhrimann Hächler