Seros – a strong sculptural statement from Victoria + Albert

Victoria + Albert has been a pioneer of freestanding bath design, using its proprietary material, Quarrycast, made from Volcanic Limestone. This high performance stone composite gives designers the freedom to shape bold, sculptural forms. For Seros, Victoria + Albert has taken the process a stage further, by commissioning an artist to create a set of original pieces to inspire an entirely new style of bath design.

Image credit: Victoria + Albert

Freestanding baths are increasing in popularity, as the benefits of bathing for physical and mental wellbeing are more widely recognised. The market has become more competitive, with many similar styles emerging. Victoria + Albert has always been a leader in the category, with award-winning designs such as the Amiata, Eldon and Ionian; the development of Seros provided an opportunity to present a ‘next generation’ bath.

Sophie-Elizabeth Thompson is a British artist, working from her studio in Barcelona. Her creative work is expressed in both sculpture and drawing. All her artistic output is a natural intuitive response to the world around her. Inspired by both natural and manmade forms and their physical relationship to each other in life. It is details that inspire her; elements of the whole, out of context, that can reference delicate bone forms, industrial architectural structures; fluid forms and the often ignored negative space between objects.

Image credit: Victoria + Albert

Thompson’s work has organic, fluid forms, suggesting the energy and movement of water. The three pieces created for Victoria + Albert play with light and shadow, mimicking the surface of rippling water. Each is extraordinary and beautiful in itself. Victoria + Albert’s in-house designers fused the signature elements of these pieces into the Seros collection. The bath has sculptured line work flowing around the tub. It is asymmetric, with every angle offering a different combination of shape and shadow.

Image credit: Victoria + Albert

“When I am in my studio, during my creative process, there is a moment, sometimes after only minutes of working and sometimes after hours of working, where I suddenly feel completely at peace.” explained Thompson. “Where time appears to stand still in absolute tranquillity. That sense of harmony that can only exist in the stillness and perfection of the present moment. This is the gap between thoughts, the moment that transcends time and space and our perceived reality where the purest of form and mark are created. It is an instinctive process where no thoughts can penetrate and the subconscious mind allows inspiration to flow into form. This presence, this calmness, lends itself beautifully to the design of a bathroom collection. I live by the sea, and took photos of how the sea rests against the sand; how the wind affects and sculpts the sand. It leaves these beautiful, calm, flowing indents. The feeling of the movement and the natural marks that are left, are what I tried to capture.”

The internal profile uses all of Victoria + Albert’s expertise in ergonomics to produce a supremely comfortable bathing experience. The vessel basin (for countertop mounting) echoes the shape of the bath, offering not just a complementary basin for the bath, but a distinctive showpiece for cloakrooms or shower-rooms.

Especially remarkable is the podium basin. The first Victoria + Albert has ever made, it appears to have grown from the ground with its twisting, elemental shape. The bowl gives the impression it has been carved out of the top. The waste is concealed hidden by an integral plate, to maintain the purity of the shape. With the Seros collection, art is brought into the bathroom, with shapes that reflect nature, suffusing the space with a serenity and sense of wellbeing.

Image credit: Victoria + Albert

The Seros collection’s remarkable design does not compromise its functionality. The sweeping chamfered rim of the bath creates a cradle for the bather, gently supporting the neck. The internal shape is moulded for comfort, encouraging a longer soak. Available in Gloss or Matt, the Matt finish delightfully diffusing the light to create a calming ambience. The bath comes in two sizes, the Seros 1650 (length 1647mm, width 763mm) and the Seros 1780 (length 1776mm, width 766mm). The Seros vessel basin is for countertop mounting (length 548mm, width 300mm).

The Podium basin stands 900mm high and conceals the pipework within the body for an elegant installation. As with all baths and basins in the Victoria + Albert range, the new Seros collection can be customised in over 200 RAL colours. This colour offering is continually growing due to strong demand for bespoke colour finishes. These exciting new tones help consumers to create a bathroom that reflects their individual sense of style. Each finish is multi-layered using a special catalysed paint, and hand-polished between applications for a deep lustre. More durable than hand-painted surfaces, Victoria + Albert colours elevate baths and basins to greater luxury.

Like all Victoria + Albert products, the entire collection is made from Volcanic Limestone and shares its characteristic properties of strength, stain and scratch resistance, and a natural warmth that means less of the heat of the water is used to raise the temperature of the material – and the bath stays warmer for longer!

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Main image credit: Victoria + Albert