Developing premium bathroom concepts is part of our nature
Designing furniture is undoubtedly among the supreme disciplines in product design. For design doesn’t only follow function – but also frequently the used materials. More precisely: its specific characteristics and features.
The creators of EDITION LIGNATUR – as was already the case for KEUCO EDITION 11 and EDITION 400 – design office Tesseraux + Partner – take full advantage of the rare luxury of being able to build bathroom furniture from natural wood. For natural wood allows exceptional design options. Thanks to the consequent utilisation of these opportunities, EDITION LIGNATUR makes it evident immediately that it consists of massive wood.
There is for example the elegant infinity cove shaped into the front edge. It reduces the visible edge thickness to a delicate 5 millimetres.
The sculpted, architectural furniture character strikingly emphasises the coloured sheen and individual traces found in the wood. This results in elegant living, shifting traditional perspectives regarding the bathroom. Making a true difference is exactly the goal today’s demanding designers aspire to in their work.
Dominik Tesseraux, Designer (Tesseraux+Partner)
The area around Hemer has a thousand years old history in metallurgy.
Vast ore deposits, thick forests supplying charcoal for furnaces, creeks that later powered watermills. Those were perfect preconditions for the pioneers of metal production and processing. Among the coveted export goods of the region since the 19th century, one could also find a product playing a leading role in Hermer’s industry to this day: water-conducting fittings.
Company KEUCO is a part of this longstanding tradition in metal, witness to more than 60 years of expertise in fittings and accessories. With its high standards in design and technology, all products are manufactured in Hemer. Throughout, high-precision, computerised production steps take turns with meticulous manual labour.
In line with its historic obligations, KEUCO fittings and accessories stand out thanks to innovative functionality, highest quality and flawless surface finishing. Everything made in Germany. The way it has been for over 1000 years.
During a summer stroll through the woods, the atmosphere of the light alters with every step of the way. At times, only individual sunrays shine through the leaves, at times a clearing illuminates everything.
This brings us right in the heart of things. For EDITION LIGNATUR must feature a light mirror. Its light colours and hues are almost as divers as the lights of the wood: from warm white 2700 Kelvin up to as-bright-as-day 6500 Kelvin.
Already when applying make-up, this allows perceiving how the effect will be outside, or in the office or during a dimmed restaurant meal. The complex technology behind this – even featuring integrated mirror heating – originates from KEUCO’s in-house light lab. And yet another special feature of the EDITION LIGNATUR mirror: it has an elegant light sail.
It ensures that the light hits the face naturally from above. As is the case in a forest. Or in the office or a restaurant.
For millennia, human sympathy for the seashell Teredo navalis was rather limited. The reason can be found in its common name: shipworm.
Note that over the course of the evolution, the shell exterior strongly decreased and turned into a drilling tool. Teredo navalis uses it to drill shelter holes in ship planks and other water-borne wood structures.
Over centuries, shipbuilders have tried with varying success to protect ship planks against such shell perforation. Everything was in vain: prior to the era of steel boats, the stowaway had spread from its indo-pacific home throughout the world.
Venice was one of its new homes. With its innumerable oak poles bored into the sandy ground, the lagoon city is a true shipworm paradise. Its love of the city is however as unrequited as its love for ships. Due to its insatiable drilling activities, fundament and jetty poles require regular replacement.
And this finally leads to this difficult relationship’s happy end. For the exchanged and thoroughly dried beams constitute a most coveted wood for furniture: Venetian Oak. Board after board, individually refined thanks to the tireless work of Teredo navalis. Which finally, well, drilled its way to the heart of humans after all.
EDITION LIGNATUR furniture is unique, custom-made for each individual order. From the very start, as not even the natural wood boards of the three-layer process are pre-produced.
The explanation is furnished by our pronounced perfectionism. For all EDITION LIGNATUR order surfaces to mutually harmonise, a special advance operation is required. At Team 7, it’s called “painting with wood”.
This is how this art works: Prior to making the boards, the 46-millimeter thick slats providing the foundation of the future surface will be chosen relative to their hue. For it varies from trunk to trunk and from board to board when using the natural material wood. And it’s not just the colours but also the patterns of the woods that should harmonise. Depending on the wood type, there are branch nests, splints, light mirrors and other characteristics.
In order to make these features more visible, the slats are initially sprayed with water, creating a more contrasted image. The slaps are now selected individually and by hand. Only at this point, the three-point technology serves to produce the natural wood boards. A laborious method? Certainly. But a furniture maker with specific quality standards is, in a way, also an artist. Your personal contract artist if you will.
A tree is quite resistant. In the forest, its wood can withstand decades of frost, heat, snow and rain – a perfect training camp for many years in the bathroom.
In order to optimally use the protective features of the wood, the surfaces of EDITION LIGNATUR are not sealed but treated with organically pure protective oil. It mainly consists of linseed oil, sunflower oil, soy oil, carnauba wax and beeswax. The share of waxes is slightly higher than in traditional protective oils in order to increase resistance to stagnant water. The wood’s open pores however remain, since this provides many advantages especially in a bathroom environment.
The naturally contained tannic acid has for example antibacterial effects. Unpainted wood is also antistatic and therefore does not attract dust. It breathes, absorbs humidity and releases it when the air is dry. This results in pleasant room climate, which you notice whenever entering the bathroom. Unsealed natural wood is also very forgiving. Usage traces and small damages, such as dents, scratches and discolorations due to glass stains can be quickly remedied using the accompanying care kit.
Despite all toughness: The wood surfaces of EDITION LIGNATUR have at times deserved some wellness. It will suffice to treat them twice annually using protective oil. This will render the wood increasingly resistant over time, making it as resilient as it once used to be in the forest.