Designing the future: Alape

Text by Atrium Magazin für Wohnkultur, Design und Architektur
Schlieren, Switzerland
08.01.19

Sustainability and ALAPE are a perfectly functioning duo – and have been for more than 120 years.

Carsten Müller

“For Alape, treating our world and its resources with care isn’t an external constraint, it’s a deeply rooted basic attitude,” says Alape’s managing director Carsten Müller. “We act responsibly at all stages of the product life cycle,” he continues, “from selecting the raw materials and the manufacturing process all the way to recycling. Glazed steel is our sustainability ambassador.”

Even at the workpiece stage, the special steel already meets the highest quality specifications. As a result, it’s possible to produce the sharpest of curves and striking basin shapes that are nevertheless characterised by great stability. “We’re constantly refining our technologies so as to push the envelope of what the material can do and keep coming up with innovative new products,” explains Müller. The latest evidence of the company’s innovativeness is the development of new finishes that are scheduled for launch in spring 2019.

Recyclable: Alape products contain no harmful substances (top); Grinding balls, glass flakes, colour pigments: natural minerals like quartz, feldspar and borax are ingredients for the glaze (above)

Analogies with nature served as inspiration. Alape achieves the exceptional quality of the finishes by processing the materials with meticulous precision on the basis of a three-layer technique that involves extracting the water from the glaze before the enamel is fired in the kiln.

Founded by Adolf Lamprecht in 1896, Alape stands for the highest standards of technical and functional quality paired with inspiring design. Glazed steel in combination with other premium materials enables Alape to implement individual designs for architectonic settings – for one-stop washplace solutions.