Water Works

What do we expect of a bathroom today? As simple as that question may sound, the answer is actually quite complex. ‘There are three areas in which a bathroom must meet our expectations,’ explains Andreas Dornbracht. ‘It must function properly, meet our aesthetic standards and fulfil the customary needs of modern users.’ What that last requirement means becomes clear when we consider how bathrooms were utilised 50 years ago – as simple rooms used for bodily hygiene that had no other purpose, and certainly no aesthetic function. Today, however, the bathroom is an intimate setting for private rituals associated with personal hygiene, grooming and wellness that has also become a place of retreat. ‘Thus the requirements for bathroom functions and furnishings have changed considerably over the years,’ says Dornbracht.

And he should know. Representing the third generation of family entrepreneurs, Andreas Dornbracht and his brother Matthias manage the business affairs of the Dornbracht Company. Founded in 1950, the family enterprise with its international subsidiaries has long since established itself as a global leader in the market for high-quality bathroom and kitchen fittings and accessories. Although Dornbracht’s success is international, its base is local. The company has remained true to its roots, maintaining its headquarters in Iserlohn and producing only in Germany, for 65 years.

Over the years, changes in the significance and function of bathrooms have been reflected consistently the company’s product portfolio. And what is more, Dornbracht has succeeded again and again in realising entirely new ideas and developing products that set new trends instead of simply catering for the status quo.

The first big step involved the development of luxurious, aesthetically pleasing fittings and accessories in step with the progressive evolution of bathroom aesthetics in the late 1960s. In the process, Dornbracht found ways to reconcile the highest quality standards with large production volumes – in keeping with the emerging democratisation of good bathroom design. In the 1980s, Dornbracht modernised the formal language of its fittings and accessories, always in collaboration with Sieger Design, in order to offer a suitable product for luxury home design and contemporary architectures. The ‘Tara’ series introduced in 1991 is probably the best-known product in the company’s history: a geometric faucet unit in a minimalistic design featuring striking star knobs and an archetypal form that rapidly became a design classic and finds its natural place in contemporary interiors even today.

While style and aesthetics were the primary concerns in the 1980s and 1990s, functional aspects have gained in importance in the past ten years, thus enabling Dornbracht to surprise the public with entirely new product categories. ‘Today, we aim to celebrate running water as a ritual,’ explains Andreas Dornbracht, ‘as we move away from simple hot and cold water connections in favour of more complex installations.’ These include fittings that allow water to flow in astonishing ways, such as rain showers or waterfall effects. The second major focus for the future is what Dornbracht associates with the term ‘Smart Water’: intelligent, digitally controlled fitting systems. While that may sound like a gimmick, it is much more than that. Smart Water is intended as a preventive health care aid that will make it easier to use the bathroom, for instance – by stopping the flow of water automatically when the bathtub is full or enabling users to select the desired water temperature by pressing a button. That sounds temptingly simple – and the system is designed by Dornbracht in such a way that it is just that easy to operate. ‘High-tech is not an end in itself,’ as Andreas Dornbracht points out. ‘We don’t make anything that doesn’t offer added value.’

Dornbracht remains the master of its most important strength – the production of fittings and accessories that meet the highest design standards – as the family enterprise has recently demonstrated in impressive fashion once again. The new CL.1 series brings a formal language with strong character to the bathroom, one that has never been seen at Dornbracht before: unconventional, dynamic, with an elegant interplay of forms ranging from clear contours to rounded lines. These are complemented by novel structured knobs with handy sure-grip surfaces and an innovative spray pattern. As is customary for Dornbracht, this series also comprises numerous freely combinable components. In this way, the company responds to the constantly rising demand for individualised solutions for the bathroom. For individualisation is another key topic for the future – and one that is already a reality at Dornbracht.