- Consumer-centric thinking is key to any design process.
- Ten Design awards for GROHE: SmartControl kitchen honored with most design awards in 2020.
- Precise control with a minimalistic design: Juries particularly acknowledged the kitchen faucet line for its intuitive operation.
Beirut, 21 December 2020 – Answering the “why” of a product is essential in the beginning of a design process in order to create meaningful and relevant product solutions to the consumer. To understand how they want to live and what they expect from their living spaces requires a deep understanding of consumers. “Anticipating even unarticulated needs in an early stage of the product development process is crucial for creating purpose-driven products with a real added value to the consumer,” explains Patrick Speck, Leader LIXIL Global Design EMENA.
Each product at GROHE is based on three design values: easy, human and performance. “Our design approach is to create products that are easy – the design should clearly communicate its intention. Additionally, the functionality needs to be accessible and human. It should support the consumer. And lastly, GROHE products are distinguished through their performance,” says Patrick Speck. This is well received, also by international design award juries. This year, GROHE was honored with 44 design distinctions, continuing the success from the past years. Among the award-winning products especially GROHE SmartControl kitchen impressed the experts due to its outstanding combination of minimalistic design and consumer-centricity.
Purist design meets precise control
Consumers are searching for products which make their daily lives more comfortable. The innovative GROHE SmartControl kitchen faucet convinced exactly through this quality at ten top awards in 2020. “With our SmartControl kitchen we re-invented the kitchen faucet by integrating an intelligent button at the top of the faucet which provides a completely new user interaction,” says Patrick Speck. “The shape is reduced to the absolute minimum, leaving no room for distraction or confusion – puristic design in its purest form.” Instead of using a lever, the SmartControl kitchen faucet offers intuitive push and turn operation. To start the water flow, the consumer pushes the button. This also works easily with the elbow or wrist and is ideal for moments when both hands are full or not clean. By turning the button, the amount of water can be precisely adjusted from the water-saving eco-jet to the powerful jet stream. Intuitive control, straightforward comfort and ultimate flexibility at the touch of a button.
Besides its user-friendliness, the line also scores points with its minimalist and purist shape in three different design variants: the cylindrical GROHE Minta design, the organic shaped GROHE Essene design and the A-shaped GROHE Zedra design. Furthermore, GROHE offers the SmartControl kitchen faucet in a total of ten different colors which were awarded with the iF gold award in 2020 – Providing a solution for any taste and kitchen style.
Follow us on Social Media via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
About GROHE
GROHE is a leading global brand for complete bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings and has a total of over 6,500 employees in 150 countries – 2,600 of them are based in Germany. Since 2014 GROHE has been part of the strong brand portfolio of the Japanese manufacturer of pioneering water and housing products LIXIL. In order to offer “Pure Freude an Wasser”, every GROHE product is based on the brand values of quality, technology, design and sustainability. Renowned highlights such as GROHE Eurosmart or the GROHE thermostat series as well as groundbreaking innovations such as the GROHE Blue water system underline the brand’s profound expertise. Focused on customer needs, GROHE thus creates intelligent, life-enhancing and sustainable product solutions that offer relevant added value – and bear the “Made in Germany” seal of quality: R&D and design are firmly anchored as an integrated process in Germany. GROHE takes its corporate responsibility very seriously and focuses on a resource-saving value chain. Since April 2020, the sanitary brand has been producing CO2-neutral worldwide. GROHE has also set itself the goal of using plastic-free product packaging by 2021.
In the past ten years alone, more than 460 design and innovation awards as well as several top rankings at the German Sustainability Award have confirmed GROHE’s success. GROHE was the first in its industry to win the CSR Award of the German Federal Government and was also featured in the renowned Fortune® magazine’s ranking of Top 50 that are “Changing the World”.
About LIXIL
LIXIL makes pioneering water and housing products that solve every day, real-life challenges, making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere. Drawing on our Japanese heritage, we create world-leading technology and innovate to make high quality products that transform homes. But the LIXIL difference is how we do this; through meaningful design, an entrepreneurial spirit, a dedication to improving accessibility for all and responsible business growth. Our approach comes to life through industry leading brands, including INAX, GROHE, American Standard and TOSTEM. Over 70,000 colleagues operating in more than 150 countries are proud to make products that touch the lives of more than a billion people every day. Learn more at www.lixil.com