Embracing the darkness with Karcher Design's Black Edition

Black is the new black. While designers and architects will always seek at particular times to employ certain on-trend colours, dependable, reliable black is itself coming back as a trend. Black is, however, more than that, of course: it is the ultimate timeless classic, a colour indeed with which art history could be said to have begun in the famous cave of Lascaux and which still consistently continues to help shape fashion and design today.

And while it is not always so straightforward to effectively transfer the dark depth of this colour to the surface of objects, German handle specialist Karcher Design is a company that can boast of a multi-award-winning surface treatment that has set new standards in terms of colour design. Cosmos Black has been impressing experts since it was first launched at BAU 2017, showing how it's possible to reflect the dark vastness of the universe onto more down-to-earth surfaces.

Cosmos Black is a part of the company's Black Edition, whose character and elegance helps to create new tonal highlights on the handles of modern doors and windows. The matt black finish applied to the minimalist design of various different products gives them a special clarity, with striking accents that support contemporary interior concepts.

The rich dark colour is applied as a powder coating to various stainless steel products, meaning that not only is the matt surface itself of extremely high-quality, scratch-resistant and corrosion-resistant, but the underlying material is, too. In addition, the electrostatic coating process used by Karcher Design is also very environmentally friendly. ‘As a company, we feel obliged to do our part for a green planet,’ explains managing director Isabel Karcher, ‘which is why we pay attention to sustainability in all areas.’

The premium German brand also offers a choice of different handle designs and rose variants in its Black Edition, including bestselling, timeless designs such as Rhodes, Corfu, Seattle, and Montana amongst others, while the Mission Invisible range with mini-roses in Cosmos Black takes minimalism to the extreme.

To enable architects and planners to achieve a uniform look for all fittings on any given project, the Black Edition is offered in round, oval and square formats for all interior applications – door handles, window handles, doorknobs, door stops, glass door locks and lift-and-slide door handles – and of course also for exterior applications such as hall doors, patio doors, smoke and fire doors.

Cosmos Black lends stylish expression to different types of handles and represents a convincing visual trend, but it's about more than good looks. Cosmos Black also feels great to touch, its soft surface also lending haptic appeal to handle collections.

The Cosmos Black colour treatment has not only collected prizes including the Red Dot Design Award, the Callwey Award and the MUUZ International Award, It has also won over various international architects who have chosen it for use on an impressive range of private and commercial architectural projects such as the Paris headquarters of Christian Dior Parfum, where the dark elegance of the Rhodos model was specified, the stylish boutique hotel Kimpton DeWitt in Amsterdam, where the surface was effectively used as a contrast to warmer wood elements. Its strong highlights are also to be seen in numerous Mercedes brand sales outlets as well as in coworking spaces of WeWork.

Karcher Design again looked to outer space for inspiration for another of its different colour surfaces. Titan Grey is a tribute to Saturn's largest moon, which, despite its coldness, shares similarities with Earth thanks to its unique atmosphere. Like Cosmos Black, Titan Grey is also a matt surface, but one that does not absorb light. Instead, it renders soft reflections when cold light falls on its warm grey tone.

For this second surface from the Black Edition, stainless steel pieces are lacquered. The finish is only a tenth of a millimetre in depth, yet durable and enormously damage resistant. This finish also brings with it a velvety haptic quality. Both Titan Grey and Cosmos Black are eye-catching on their own, but in combination with warm earthy tones, neutral whites or stronger colours, bring exciting accents to the overall composition of architectural spaces – offering specifiers a universe of possibilities.

© Architonic