Fascinating precision – glazed steel

As far as maximum freedom of design is concerned, the materials available and their processability always define natural limits. Although wooden vessels had been the measure of all things for water and other liquids for centuries, cast iron tubs were being manufactured and then painted or enamelled as early as the 19th century. Even then, enamelling was already the most advanced process for finishing iron. Nevertheless, although the materials themselves were all ideally suited, they also went hand in hand with restricted formability. Ceramics in particular have to struggle with changes to the shape during the production process and, as a result, manufacturers have learnt to be wary of larger, flat surfaces, thin wall thicknesses, narrow radii and reproducible, incredibly precise dimensions.

Architects have recognised these properties as a considerable flaw for many years. Modern design concepts, which now tend to require integrated or integrable solutions and only rarely stand-alone, individual objects, demand geometrical shapes and systems as well as defined contours. Alape has been satisfying this double requirement for absolutely reliable material characteristics on the one hand and more extensive, special freedom of design on the other with products made of special sheet steel with a hard glazing since the 60s. The breakthrough came in 1970. The built-in basin “EW3”, the first basin that could be set into surfaces, brought attention to the Goslar-based manufacturer and not just from the architecture industry. The newly appeared flexibility in the design of washplaces caused a revolution in the sanitary world. Alape has managed to preserve this spirit of innovation right up to the present day. The most complete basin and washstand range in the industry is not least testament to this.

Alape managed to seal this high degree of design competence – indispensable for the development and manufacture of these products – from the early 1980s with cooperations with Dieter Sieger and subsequently sieger design as well as Gerhard Busalt and Yorgo Lykouria.

The requisite metalworking and enamelling expertise has traditionally been a key competence of the company and its qualified staff. It revolves around the deep drawing of titanium-stabilised special steel with excellent flow properties at an enormous surface hardness. Once the shape of the basin is defined, the size of the inserted steel sheet (steel panel) is decisive for the possible positioning of the basin and whether it will be turned into a sit-on or built-in basin or a washstand in the subsequent manufacturing process. This involves the realisation of minimal radii and edge angles of above 89°; the necessary contours of the basic shape and the individually required recesses and holes for fittings, fastenings and add-on functions are lasered out automatically. This early stage in the work determines the proverbial precision of the Alape basins.

Edge-bending of the sheet creates the respective edge height of the basin or washstand. Following careful soldering and grinding of the open corners that appear, the finished blank is ready and the glaze applied by hand. This is composed of a base layer and two (-coloured) cover glazes. After each glaze, there is a firing process at 830° to fuse the steel and glaze together permanently. The result is a resistant product with the robustness of steel and the chemical resistance of glass.

With its perfect implicitness, the end product gives barely any hint of the complicated manufacturing process behind it, and as such there are a whole range of hidden qualities – hard, sealed, pore-free, hygienic and absolutely lightfast – in addition to the well-loved visible features. They are there in all of the 220+ products in the A˘form range.

In this collection, Alape offers built-in, undermount, semi-recessed, sit-on and dish basins as well as washstands and washplaces for guest and main bathrooms in a wide range of shapes, dimensions and colour options. Archetypical basic shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, cubes and cuboids are available in different sizes, with the internal and external shape either corresponding directly or celebrating a delicate contrast. Diversity really doesn’t go far enough to describe it.

The possibilities that the material offers in terms of design are impressive: the elegance of the just three millimetre thick side walls of “Metaphor”, for example, or the minimal radii of the edges and basin edges as well as the perfectly even surfaces. “Betty Blue” is an example of the skilled craftsmanship of the Goslar-based manufacturer – a washstand in the true meaning of the word, in which the water spreads out across a flat surface instead of pouring in a basin and drains away discretely through a “shadow gap” going all the way around the outside. A statement of the highest claims and expertise – without a doubt.

Alape has a solution for every requirement in bathroom planning, which can be integrated seamlessly, elegantly and perfectly into the existing architecture and which amazes with its timeless design. The high quality and geometric precision is clearly visible in every single basin or washplace. In addition, with corresponding accessories such as towel rails, waste traps, lotion dispensers, mirrors and lights right up to combinable furniture systems, the Goslar-based company has the entire range for washplace design covered. This makes it possible to create personalised washplaces with a common design concept.

Sometimes professional creativity finds the niche between two products perfectly. At Alape, we see special solutions as challenges, not obstacles. For example, washbasins and washstands can be equipped with additional holes for taps or soap dispensers during the manufacturing process and with no problems.

Project solutions are yet another product division, if you will. Architects and designers value the competence of the company, which even applies its high standards and low tolerances to one-off items and small runs for semi-public areas in hotels, gastronomy, office buildings or airports, for example. In addition to the standard adjustment possibilities, it is also possible to adapt the colour, dimensions and function of basins and washstands to suit the project at hand. After a technical inspection almost anything is possible. That is also A˘form. In some cases, special solutions for large projects have even been adopted as models in the Alape collection.

Tailored solutions bring the planner’s intentions right to the washplace. Systemic product ranges are just as useful when creating designs as the solutions for technical interfaces are when coordinating the sections involved. From the finishing of counter tops or furniture ranges for single or bank designs for different installation situations right up to complete wall sections, Alape puts everything at the fingertips of the architect in charge.