I met up with Paul Flowers Senior Vice President of Design at Grohe last week during a stop over in London. It was very interesting to learn about his new approach and passion about the design and functionality of Grohes’ new product line.
Paul pointed out something to me that I had never really thought about , that the Bathroom is the only space in the house where you can lock the door and have the privacy of your own space and his idea is to make it a harmonious and pleasant an experience. “Sexy with reliability” were his exact words.
Paul explained that they have a new way of working where they identify the consumer opportunities rather than just finding technologies and designing around them. They call this “Creating relevant design and technology” Often this may start from a concept for example the possibility to pause the shower, one of the features of the new Ondus range.
They have a team of 14 in house designers to help create values of principal and consistency.
Architects were consulted about both mechanical and digital aspects of the range.
“I find it very exciting to see that my work is paving the way for a new aesthetics,” says Paul Flowers. “I want people to build relationships with their products and to really care about them. To achieve this, our products need to please and surprise their owners every day. We would like consumers to use their products more efficiently and keep them for longer; reducing the impact they have on our fragile environment”.
This iconic collection heralded as the first ever, complete digital bathroom, GROHE Ondus exudes the very essence of water. Each element of the collection features exquisite attention to detail and represents the perfect balance of technology, quality and design.
Inspired by nature, the overall look evolves the geometric boundaries of minimalism: with its advanced curvature, it fuses simplicity with emotion. The elegantly curved spout allows water to cascade naturally into the basin or bath. The Ondus AquaFountain shower-head and hand shower again mirror natural water flow – waterfalls and rain being the inspiration. Available in four monochromatic finishes – sophisticated VelvetBlack, high-gloss MoonWhite, FrostedTitanium and StarLight® Chrome – the GROHE Ondus range comes in an array of combinations – from three-hole basin mixers to five-hole bath fillers, completed by a full line of accessories even a champagne bucket !
The digital controls make a bold, aesthetic statement in their own right with their purity of line and simplicity of design. There are two modes, ‘Sleep’ when the product is not in use and ‘Awake’. A series of simple and friendly backlit icons are displayed when Ondus is ‘Awake’, enabling the user to choose the perfect showering or bathing experience and to key in presets to personalise their preferences for future ‘one-touch’ selection. An innovative ‘Pause’ function allows the user to temporarily stop the shower, ideal when applying soap or shampoo. The water can then be reactivated at exactly the same temperature and flow with a single touch
A plus for Interior Designers and Architects is that the new Grohe Website has installer information and there is an advisory team to help deal with special projects !
As one Designer exclaimed “I would have that in my home!”
