Laufen: Making the contemporary timeless with new designer and award-winning products

150 150 Daniel Fountain
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Laufen is delighted to be working with French designer Toan Nguyen to introduce a new award-winning, water-saving urinal to its product portfolio.

Nguyen, together with his design studio The Toan Nguyen Studio, is renowned for creating products that give the contemporary a timeless shape.Born in Paris in 1969, Nguyen worked for various design studios throughout Europe, including for ten years with Antonio Citterio, before founding his own business in Milan. The multi-disciplinary Toan Nguyen studio specialises in design development in various product sectors, from furniture to technology products.

Together with Laufen, he has developed the innovative, water-saving urinal Antero and the urinal divider Cinto.

Winner of the coveted Red Dot Award 2012 for its innovative and ingenious design, the Swiss bathroom specialist is setting the bar very high with the Antero urinal, which combines good design and ingenious functions. Nguyen has created a unique look that in contrast to conventional urinals is neither shaped like a cone or a cylinder. Instead, the ceramic bowl rises organically towards the user out of a rectangular surface.

The large-format base plate also has a practical purpose as in refurbished facilities it completely covers all traces of previous installations, while fitting on all standard connections.

The flushing rims with small holes – a Laufen patent – on the curve at the top and under the rim of the bowl ensure even, thorough, water-saving flushing of the bowl and rear wall. To ensure the splashguard effective and allows liquids to drain away safely, the rear wall is bevelled and the design of the bowl is deep, with tapering to the front.

Fitted with smart functions to ensure economical usage and low maintenance, Antero is suitable for high-user environments, such as in the hospitality industry, offices, public buildings, shopping centres, cinemas, theatres, stadiums and concert halls.

The urinal features an electronic control system which flushes thoroughly and economically and is available in a mains, battery or flush-mounted version. Depending on the type of use, different flushing volumes between 0.5 and 3 litres can be selected, as well as various flushing intervals. An integral overflow protection ensures that flushing stops if the outlet is blocked, preventing flooding.

The urinal’s ceramic surface is quick and easy to clean and has no awkward nooks and crannies or mounting holes for dirt to gather, while even the siphon of the siphonic urinal has an easy-to-clean ceramic cover.

Antero is complemented by Cinto, a ceramic urinal division which has a concave cut to make it appear weightless. When Antero and Cinto are installed in a row an architectural scenario is created that fits perfectly with the geometry of the space.

For more information visit www.laufen.com

Daniel Fountain / 01.08.2012

Editor, Hotel Designs

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