REPUTED bathroom manufacturer Duravit has seen a number of its designs securing international awards, confirming its creativity and affirming that “design conquers the bathroom”.

The company has been recognised for its courage to try something new, winning a total of eight awards over the past year. In addition to the Nahho and OpenSpace innovations, the PuraVida bathtub, the SensoWash shower-toilet seat, the Architec urinal, the Starck K and Cassia kitchen sinks and the Ketho range of bathroom furniture have all scooped awards. Duravit has taken home the red dot design award, the Focus Open 2011 in gold, the iF product design award, the Interior Innovation Award and the Plus X Award.

Since as early as 1987 when Duravit launched the Giamo range, the bathroom manufacturer has been advocating design as a success factor. Since then, in collaboration with international designers, the company has continued to develop exciting products and ideas, thereby confirming its design expertise in the bathroom.

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Commenting on the company’s design focus, chairman Franz Kook says: “Successful design is characterised by the fact that it captures the spirit of a coming age. That’s why there are no guarantees. Successful design not only requires a great amount of curiosity, but also the willingness to continue to reinvent the company.”

Duravit’s PuraVida bathtub was rated by readers of the Architektur & Design magazine as one of the best products of 2010. Designed as a new “poetry of lightness”, it impressed readers with its soft forms and gentle curves.

By floating a new form of bathing culture, the Nahho tub won over the jury of the red dot design award 2011. “The bathtub, created by Austrian designer EOOS, allows users to drift effortlessly in the water, generating a feeling of weightlessness that ensures complete and utter relaxation,” says a company spokesman.

Similarly, the award-winning OpenSpace shower partition by EOOS can be folded away after use to become a discreet wall panel. In addition to creating a more spacious feel, OpenSpace also enables greater freedom of movement in the bathroom – a particular benefit for small bathrooms. “An international jury selected the ingenious shower partition from a total of 357 entries and awarded it the coveted Focus Open 2011 design prize in gold for its outstanding design. The state prize of the Design Center Stuttgart is awarded for imaginative, professional and outstanding design,” the spokesman points out.

The SensoWash shower-toilet seat, created with French designer Philippe Starck, was Duravit’s first product using the concept of the shower-toilet in 2010. “SensoWash premieres outstanding design and washing comfort in equal measure – a symbiosis that won the iF product design award 2011. Readers of the US design journal AzureMagazine also fell in love with the idea of styling the shower-toilet as a design object and crowned Sensowash the Best Interior Product,” says the spokesman.

The Architec urinal also scooped an iF product design award. “The practicality of the urinal is impressive: thanks to its large, flat rear panel, Architec covers drill holes, outlets or inlets left by previous urinals,” the spokesman explains.

When developing the Ketho range of bathroom furniture, Duravit chose to collaborate with furniture designer Christian Werner. With its clear contours, precise proportions and fine colours, Ketho makes an elegant contribution to the harmony of the room as a whole – timeless design features that impressed the editors of the Schoner Wohnen magazine who awarded the bathroom furniture programme the title “New Classic”, he adds.

“Duravit’s collaborations with designers are all about great creativity, independence and the courage to try something new, and this has already given rise to more than 50 projects,” concludes the spokesman.