Architects and designers are concerned with the future. What is your take on the timeframe and what kind of preparations are you making for anticipating the future in your industry?
Designers are constantly anticipating and seeking ways to improve the future. Focusing that creative energy on consumer needs and wants helps to create emotionally and practically meaningful products.
At LIXIL, our purpose is to make better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere. Our global design team is constantly working on products and solutions for both the short-term and long-term.
In the short term, we identify and meet pressing consumer needs that may have quickly emerged or changed with products, such as touchless solutions providing enhanced personal hygiene during the pandemic, that can deliver immediate impact.
At the same time, a big part of our work is to deeply understand long-term trends and translate our findings into innovative products and solutions.
To support our research into future trends, we have purposefully located our six global in-house design studios in some of the most attractive, cosmopolitan and culturally diverse cities in the world.
These global cities are also influential architectural and design hubs that provide a rich source of interaction that drives inspiration and consumer insight to our design teams.
We actively participate in industry events and fairs all over the world to monitor trends and gather insights that will guide our design decisions. We also invest and engage in major events, such as Milan Design Week, to showcase inspirational content and provoke conversations that can catalyse ideas with industry partners and consumers.
What is trending in your industry and what kind of impact does it have on the consumer and your organization?
We observe consumers shifting their perception of the bathroom as a functional space into a space for enhanced personal hygiene and as a sanctuary for wellness, rejuvenation, and self-care.
Another exciting development is in creating transformative experiences through personalization. The use of different materials, customizable user settings, colours, and finishes, are empowering discerning consumers to create tailored environments and experiences, whether indoors or outdoors.
There is also growing market demand for sustainable brands and products. Discerning consumers appreciate sophisticated products that are of high perceived quality, yet water and energy-efficient, durable and deliver a great experience every time.
Can you elaborate how the GROHE brand is addressing the growing demand for personal wellness and customization?
Throughout Asia, water plays an important role to purify and refresh the body, mind, and spirit. In the stressful surroundings of our hectic everyday life, water helps us to disconnect and brings us precious moments of personal bliss to recover.
The GROHE brand is about “Pure Freude an Wasser” or the “Pure Water Enjoyment”. This ethos flows into how we design and leverage technologies to deliver enjoyable water experiences to suit different needs and lifestyles.
We relaunched GROHE SPA in late 2023 in APAC, as a premium sub-brand of GROHE, which was conceived to satisfy the need for personalized luxury through multisensory experiences that engage the senses.
What is the experiential experience all about and how do you contribute to the trend towards personalized luxury and wellbeing in architectural design?
The term ‘SPA’ is traced to the Latin phrase ‘Salus Per Aquam’ which translates into ‘Health through Water.’ This concept forms the heart and soul of the GROHE SPA brand. It inspires various advancements that build on each other to recreate and, in some instances, elevate the home spa experience.
One way to satisfy the need for all-around wellness is through multisensory experiences that engage the senses. Using water as natural inspiration, the Rainshower AQUA shower and body sprays deliver invigorating waterfalls to relaxing sprays and soothing drizzles. The sleek and slim design can be enhanced by light, sound and steam features arranged in unique module configurations to create a tailored showering experience.
Creating a refined and cultured setting that is conducive for self-indulgence demands harmony in design. Our collections have been carefully curated to enable cohesive design combinations from a selection of distinct colours and refined finishes.
Adding detailed touches is key to creating a versatile haven for personalized luxury. Meticulous curation of the finest GROHE SPA designs and sophisticated details are unveiled in the Atrio and Allure Brilliant Private Collections.
The flexibility to reflect unique preferences and aspirations can be further fulfilled with Caesarstone quartz accents embedded into different handle designs available in many colours and finishes.
For those seeking absolute customization, precise 3D printing technology gives creative freedom to bring bespoke designs and customizable elements to life as unique statement pieces in their bathroom space.
These four different elements of GROHE SPA were showcased at this year’s Milan Design Week, through our “Aquatecture” installation, signifying the fusion of water and architecture, and the health and well-being benefits this infusion brings.
Guests to our LIXIL Experiential Centre (LEC) in Joo Chiat, Singapore, can personally experience how ‘Aquatecture’ has been translated into specially designed spaces that feature GROHE SPA designs and private collections.
How do you translate these conversations to actual projects across the Asia Pacific region?
Project needs can differ greatly from a large condominium project to a private bespoke residence. We work closely with discerning users, architects and designers to understand and meet their needs and aspirations, to prime the project for premium liveability, exclusiveness, and value appreciation, or a combination of the three.
Our breadth of offerings can be flexed to meet these needs. For discerning users, our GROHE SPA curated collections, crafted to highest standards and quality of materials and finishes, can be arranged in unique configurations for a bespoke showering experience. For truly special and exclusive spaces, one-of-one statement pieces can be 3D crafted to exacting user desire.
We follow through with tailoring and elevating the guest experience at our LECs, with personalised attention throughout each visit and project consultancy solutions. We warmly welcome guests to our LECs in Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Bandung, and soon in Hanoi.
-ADiN.jpg&w=347&h=240&crop-to-fit)
Back
