Gleaming Surfaces and Premium Edges

Plastics company Rehau is closely linked with the town of Rehau. Wherever you go in this particular part of Hochfranken, there are buildings belonging to the polymer specialists, amusingly named after the chemical elements. Of the ten thousand people who live here, two thousand work for the family-run company.

Rehau’s head office is located on a knoll on the outskirts of town: the Rheniumhaus, the spacious interior of which was inspired by the play of light and shadow seen at oriental bazaars. This is where all the threads of a 65-year-old company come together – a global player in the construction, industry and automotive sectors with a workforce of 17,000 employees.

Andreas Albig, manager of the Furniture Division, and Matthias Haasler, head of Rehau’s Business Unit Surface, are also based at this control centre for the company’s international activities. According to the executives, the global furniture division accounts for two thirds of Rehau’s industry segment. The results of the company’s research and development activities in this field – intelligent and innovative solutions for stylish home and working environments in the 21st century – can be seen at the Rehau Möbelforum.

It all started with edgebands for the particleboards used by manufacturers of kitchen, office and living room furniture. Today the company supplies the furniture world with more than 15,000 edgeband designs. Recently, it has even become possible to apply them seamlessly. “We’ve developed a pure polymer edging material specially for laser welding,” says Matthias Haasler. “As a result, dirt-trapping joins are a thing of the past and the visual effect is totally homogeneous.”

In the meantime, the furniture team has branched out far beyond edgebanding. The experts have developed some highly sophisticated solutions – mainly intended for offices and kitchens – that range from tambour doors for cabinets all the way to electronically adjustable acoustic screens and from plinth panels all the way to puristic surfaces. The intelligent furniture components are made in the company’s high-tech manufacturing facilities before going to the factories and workshops of the furniture manufacturers, where they become vital elements of premium furnishings.

The new polymer surfaces “Rauvisio crystal” and “Rauvisio brilliant” are a case in point. “With Rauvisio, we’re bringing a whole new dimension to the design of furniture and surfaces,” says Andreas Albig. “Rehau supplies this aesthetic new product both as a surface material and in the form of prefinished boards.” The “Rauvisio crystal” surface is particularly interesting because, although its front and side views look like an upmarket glass panel, it is considerably easier to process because it is impact-resistant. And that’s a product feature that will delight not just kitchen fitters but aesthetically-minded kitchen owners as well.

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Photos: Christoph von Haussen, Rehau

REHAU AG + Co.
Rheniumhaus
Otto-Hahn-Strasse 2
95111 Rehau
Telefon 0049 (0) 9283 77 0
Fax 0049 (0) 9283 1016
info@rehau.com