LAUFEN
Blending local design with world-class durability

A collaboration with iconic Italian design house Kartell, and the launch of innovative material SaphirKeramik made 2013 an exciting year for Laufen, a premier brand under the Roca umbrella.

The new Kartell by Laufen range, designed by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba, offers a complete bathroom solution at an affordable luxury level, including some real gems in terms of technology, such as hidden wastes and overflows in basins and bathtubs.

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Additionally, using new ceramic substitute SaphirKeramik, Laufen has been able to achieve unprecedented possibilities in design. SafphirKeramik, which is considerably harder and stronger than regular ceramic, can create more defined radii and edges, as well as thinner walls, which have until now not been seen in sanitary ceramic.

“It is always a challenge to create the right blend of locally influenced design delivered to budget and to a finish that can withstand the challenges of hotel use,” explains Ivan Zupanovic, head of international project sales & export at Laufen.

“Our success has lain in the ability to work with designers to explore products that fulfil design aspirations as well as budgetary constraints. Advising and supporting a designer as their specialised bathroom advisor is always our preferred method.”

Laufen supplies a diverse range of products to hotel groups across the world. The company aims to help designers realise their ambitions, whether for a three-star hotel such as the recent joint venture between Marriott and IKEA, which will see 150 Moxy hotels being rolled out over 10 years across Europe, or for customised solutions such as those supplied to the stylish Mondrian Hotel in Doha due to open this year.

Laufen, which employs 1,800 staff, manufactures around three million ceramic pieces per year across its production sites in Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic.

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