Duravit: The Bathroom As A Tactile Experience

Humans imbue places with emotions. The bathroom of yesterday evokes memories of cold tiles and functional ceramic objects. The surfaces in today’s bathroom, however, are much more varied: furniture comes in a range of finishes such as textured wood or satin matt lacquers. Shower trays and bathtubs are made from a cast mineral material with a velvety, warm feel.

Sanitary ceramic has long been a firm feature of the bathroom. The material has a long tradition in the bathroom and is regarded as being highly robust and easy to clean. Its surface feels smooth and cool. Satin matt ceramic glazes in White, Grey, Sand, and Anthracite open up not only new design options, but also a new, soft tactile experience.

Nowadays, customers can choose bathroom furniture made from a wide range of materials to create a unique bathroom to suit their taste. Consoles and cabinets from the L-Cube range, for example, are available in 27 different colors and finishes. Décors or matt-colored lacquers offer velvety outer surfaces, while the high-gloss colors are more glaze-like to the touch. Wood-effect décors and real-wood veneers have a smooth, uniform surface, or indeed a natural wood grain that is appealing to the touch. The linen décor finish is particularly distinctive. With its textured surface, it has an almost natural and linen-like feel.

Consoles in robust natural materials such as solid wood and quartz are available for selected bathroom ranges, including Luv by the Danish designer Cecilie Manz.

Bathtubs and shower trays are usually made from acrylic. The robust surface is pore-free and white like ceramic, but more pleasant to the touch because the material takes on the ambient temperature. The mineral material DuraSolid A was a pioneer of the matt finish, making brand-new design elements possible. The result: flowing shapes without visible joints and seams as in the Cape Cod bathtub by Philippe Starck, for instance. The material is pleasantly soft and warm to the touch.

In contrast, the Stonetto shower tray features a stone-like yet uniform texture. The silky-soft surface is beyond compare: it is matt and at the same time anti-slip and scratch-proof. Stonetto is made from DuraSolid Q, a high-performance cast mineral material that comes in the colors Anthracite, Sand, Concrete and White.