Customised connectivity with VIMAR

In the Barracks Hotel in Sentosa, Singapore, the light switches match a Marshall Bluetooth speaker. That is to say, the cover plates pick up the grained-leather appearance of the speaker’s cladding, the polished brass of the knobs, and the textured grill cloth. They are an example of the sort of bespoke finishing that VIMAR, the 76-year-old makers of electrical hardware and automated home systems, undertakes on a regular basis.

High-tech and industrialised it may be, but VIMAR knows that to be relevant today, individuality must be catered for. Uncompromising customers might include an architect who wants all evidence of an electronically connected building to disappear into his walls; an interior stylist who wishes to unify the tone of the light switches and the chairs; or a hotel design team who wants cover plates branded and the pictorial elements in tune with its own visual identity.

The Eikon series of panels and switches, which already has variables in its design, from the retro-styled Eikon Exé Vintage, to the buttonless Eikon Tactil, and the flush-to-the-wall Eikon Exé Flat, lends itself to customisation. Plates can be produced in expertly machined metal or stone, cast glass, stoneware. concrete or Corian, or die-cut leather to tone in with an interior scheme. The Eikon Evo and Eikon Exé series cover plates in metal can be painted in one of over 200 shades chosen from the special RAL K7 colour charts. Buttons can contrast or match, pictorial graphics can be personalised, the panels can be oriented horizontally or vertically and all can be produced to meet local standards around the world.

VIMAR’s engineering and R&D department work closely with a project’s design team to hone the aesthetics of a bespoke system, establishing what is possible by analysing feasibility, rendering and prototyping until a satisfactory solution is found. It understands that the interface is the connection between the human and a building’s infrastructure, and our relationship with it is precious, since it defines our everyday experience of the building.

© Architonic