The heritage-listed Royce Hotel, a five star boutique establishment on Melbourne’s St Kilda Road, has recently undergone a transformation, with the opulent redesign harking back to its past life with a subtle nod to Art Deco. The Royce Hotel takes its name – and its style – from the fact it was originally a Rolls Royce showroom (in the 1920s) that was recognised as the most glamorous in the world.
The famous Royce Hotel stands proud in the heart of Melbourne on St Kilda Road.
In 2000 the building was converted into a luxury hotel with SJB Interiors commissioned to design the interiors. Now, 15 years later, the same firm has just completed six prototype rooms that will form the footprint for the hotel’s ongoing refurbishment strategy. SJB Interior’s vision for this work took inspiration from the building’s history and then enhanced this with a luxurious Art Deco style.
The Presidential Suite is a stunning nod to the 1920s Art Deco era.
SJB developed a base palette of oyster and metallic tones layered with black detailing and royal blue accents. In addition, the subtle texture of knurled chrome detailing referenced the magnificent Rolls Royce vehicles that once called the building home.
Each luxurious bathroom features hand-made vanities to showcase the new Components tapware range by Kohler.
Sophistication, glamour and opulence are all key words for the ambience of the Royce and nowhere are these more evident than in the bathrooms of the guest suites and rooms.
The Presidential Suite bathroom features double-sized walk in shower with Katalyst showering, minimalist accessories, paired with the modern Evora wall hung toilet suite (Englefield by Kohler).
“It was imperative for the tapware, for example, to reflect the aspiration of the hotel,” said Andrew Parr, director interior design, SJB Interiors.
The stunning Components tapware set features the Tube spout and knurled handles – Oyl.
“Kohler’s Components provided the perfect balance between Classic and Modern Deco, while its choice of decorative elements meant the same range could run throughout the hotel in its various designs. The fittings are beautifully proportioned and the knurled detailing of the Oyl tap handles provides an elevated level of tactility and prestige,” he said.
The moodiness of this Signature Suite is reminiscent of the 1920s style featured throughout the hotel.
Signature Suite bathroom.
The new bathrooms feature spouts and handles from the highly innovative Kohler Components, a collection of interchangeable tapware elements – handle, spout and finish – that can be used to create a unique and bespoke look.
Other bathroom details of note are the marble wall tiles whose shell shape is taken from a motif found elsewhere in the original Royce building, while the chrome detailing on the marble vanity units is subtly redolent of Le Corbusier’s Grand Confort armchair, a classic design of 1928, the year the Rolls Royce showroom opened.
The shell motif marble tiles and deco inspired sconces set the scene for the modern bathroom fixtures including the Evora Wall Hung toilet suite and Katalyst air infused showerheads.
Kohler’s Katalyst showerheads deliver a highly indulgent, luxury showering experience courtesy of a clever water-saving technology whereby 2.2 litres of air is introduced into every 9.4 litres of water to create a deluge of larger, fuller water droplets.
The Kohler Katalyst air infused showerhead matched with Components Oyl top assembly handles.
In lock-step with the design brief of elegant, classic design are the Purist tapware fixtures including freestanding Purist bath filler. A piece of perfectly proportioned, classic design exuding clean, timeless lines Purist is the perfect fit with the marble and chrome finishes and textures of the 5 star Royce Hotel.
A true Melbourne view from the bathroom in the Presidential Suite including the Purist Freestanding Bath Filler.
Interiors: SJB Interiors – Andrew Parr and Léo Terrando
Got a small bathroom but don’t want to compromise on style and functionality? When it comes to designing for bathroom sizes – sometimes as little as two to three square metres – creating a classy, on-trend yet functional bathing space can be a challenge!
Here’s a project that faced the same challenge, with a few great ideas that made a huge difference to the family living in this home, in terms of both style and experience.
One of the most common desires of those with a small bathing space is the need for a bath, especially for families with children.
A bath was a “must have” in this bathroom, which turned an everyday bathroom into a luxurious master bathroom exuding sybaritic indulgence. This deeply relaxing hydrotherapy spa bath ticked all the boxes, and when paired with a mixture of Crystal Glass Loft Black subway tiles and large format black Mek Dark tiles, creates an Insta-worthy bathing space!
When designing your compact bathroom, the more floor area that is visible the greater the perception of space. A wall hung vanity and toilet are both excellent inclusions to achieve this effect.
This bathroom features the innovative Terrace basin with matching wall mounted cabinet, incorporating spacious natural oak integrated storage drawers. Designed by the Jacob Delafon team in France, the Terrace includes the unique “Free Drain” system which is hands free drainage – no centre waste hole required, nor the need to put your hands into the water.
The unique FreeDrain concealed waste keeps your basin minimalist and streamlined.
Paired with the contemporary Avid basin mixer – a Red Dot award-winning tap – and matching Avid bathroom accessories, this bathroom is elevated to rock-star status.
When saving space is a priority, the toilet can be a key factor. A wall-hung model, with cistern concealed in the wall cavity, will not only take less bathroom space but also creates more visual space by being elevated above the floor. And for the seemingly impossible dream – having a bidet in a small bathroom – there IS a solution! The Veil Intelligent Wall Hung toilet is the perfect addition to the modern bathroom, featuring integrated bidet and comfort factors including heated seat, heated water wash with varying temperature levels, three wash functions, heated air-drying function, built in deodoriser and LED auto self-cleaning wand to name a few! What more could you want in a small bathroom!
So while space is definitely limited in a compact bathroom, your options for creating a stylish, highly functional bathing space are vast!
A residential developer situated north of Auckland in New Zealand, has used a lifetime of experience and architectural passion to create his own family home in the lush rural countryside of Dairy Flat.
Calling on the expertise of local architect Alistair Dodds and interior designer Shannon Pepper, the owner’s brief was to create a two-storey family home for the couple and their two children. Key to his ‘dream home’ was a master bedroom with accompanying theatre room and a large, open-plan living area to take full advantage of a proposed water feature.
The owner’s favourite colour palette of black and white is in evidence throughout the home, as is his love of modernist, highly functional design. The living space has six metre ceilings and full-length glass walls, while the swimming pool has been placed under the roof, to enable year round use.
Bathrooms featuring KOHLER
There are four bathrooms in the home, each showcasing a black and white colour palette together with KOHLER’s sleek award-winning* Avid* tapware in a beautiful PVD Titanium finish. A different look is achieved in each bathing space with the clever use of texture and pattern in tiles and finishes.
The luxurious master bathroom exudes sybaritic indulgence – from the deeply relaxing hydrotherapy spa bath to the statuesque 1500mm Terrace vanity with double vitreous china basins and unique ‘FreeDrain’ waste system plus spacious natural oak integrated storage drawers. The all black bathroom achieves plenty of light reflection with the clever mix of Crystal Glass Loft Black subway tiles in a combination of high gloss and textured finishes while the large scale black Mek Dark wall tiles are finished with white grout. The choice of Avid tapware is complemented with matching Avid bathroom accessories.
A second bathroom achieves a virtual reverse of the chosen colour palette with striking 1200mm x 600mm honed Calacatta marble wall and floor tiles featuring deep grey veining. Again, the wall hung Veil Intelligent toilet offers a sculptural take on a traditionally utilitarian fixture. The Veil, with its French curve heated seat, is richly featured with advanced bidet functions controlled by a one-touch remote control and a self-cleaning bidet wand.
Other bathroom highlights include the Bluetooth enabled Moxie showerhead together with the Exhale multifunction shower and the sleek, low profile ModernLife basin.
All pieces in the bathroom have been selected for their understated crisp, modern lines that together create a sense of privacy and tranquillity bathed in soft light.
Only weeks into 2018 and Kohler has created history at two of the world’s leading trade shows for the bathroom industry.
The Kohler Co. exhibit shines at KBIS 2018KBIS (Kitchen and Bathroom Industry Show) held in Orlando, Florida is the world’s leading platform for showcasing the latest products, trends and technologies while CES (Consumer Electronics Show) held in Las Vegas, Nevada is the global stage for the technology industry drawing more than 184,000 attendees.
Kohler Co. attended both of these vast shows simultaneously and successfully raised the bar in terms of innovation, new products and the exhibit at both events.
The extended Artifacts range launches at KBIS 2018
KBIS hosts over 600 brands, including 100 new companies and features workshops, networking circles, the integrated Design & Construction Week. New products released at KBIS 2018 included
New products on display at KBIS
New floral basins from Kohler
This year, Kohler’s Mark Bickerstaffe spoke to an extended group of designers and architects on 2018 design trends in both product design and the bathrooms of the future.
KBIS was proud to win Gold in the Bathroom category for its Kallista designer collection of bathroom products and Best In Show for Kallista’s breakout Grid tapware design. Grid was inspired by the fundamentals of the De Stijl movement. Kohler worked with a 3D printing specialist to harness the very best in direct metal printing technology in order to create this outstanding design.
Kohler’s Kallista brand won the Gold Best In Show Award
The prize winning Kallista Grid tapware
CES is THE global show for the tech industry attracting almost 200,000 attendees. Kohler clearly led the bathroom industry, with CES recognising Kohler’s outstanding and world-leading contribution to bringing technology and voice control to the bathroom in a meaningful way.
Media and designers alike were excited during the launch of Kohler Konnect
Kohler used the CES industry-specialist stage to launch its voice-enabled Kohler Konnect technology whereby, for the first time, consumers can customise their bathroom experience by simply saying the words!
The technology extends to the shower, bath, toilet, mirror and tap – they are all finally connected. And simply by saying a command such as ‘make-up mode’, ‘pour 500ml’, ‘flush’, ‘sports shower’ the mirror, the tap, the toilet and the shower can be activated. The result is a truly customised bathroom experience that is both hands free and totally relaxing.
The Kohler Konnect Shower
Run a bath to a preset temperature, turn on the foot warmer on the intelligent toilet, activate presets for sound, water, steam and lighting in the shower – all by voice control.
These incredible products of the future will launch in the US late 2018 … we hope to see them reach our shores soon after. Watch this space!!
The opening night of the KOHLER Experience Center – West Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Following on from KEC’s in New York, London, Singapore, New Delhi, Taipei and Bangkok, the Hollywood store (KEC LAX) continues our mission to launch our new retail concept – KOHLER Experience Centre’s located around the world, offering a global immersion in the full offering of KOHLER products.
What this means is that each Centre will showcase fully-functioning displays of Kohler’s global product lines available across the world— a first for both the industry and for the KOHLER brand. This will enable trade professionals to test and source KOHLER products like never before. Fully-functioning products, including showers, tapware, basins and toilets will enable all customers to experience the true differences in performance and design.
Extensive displays showcase products.
Designed by noted Los Angeles architectural firm Marmol Radziner, the sleek, white two-story shopping destination is flooded with natural light and features soaring ceilings, sliding walls of glass and more than twenty fully designed kitchen and bath vignettes.
20 bathroom vignettes adorn the showroom.
The opening was attended by key designers, celebrities and industry associates alike. LA has an emerging design scene – not just limited to product design, but also encompassing fashion, film, culture – and has been looking for something like the KEC LAX to learn more about a manufacturer’s passion for gracious living, leading-edge design, and outstanding customer service.
Visitors to the KEC LAX can fully immerse themselves in the world of bathroom and kitchen design by browsing the stunning vignettes, or taking it a step further by booking a real-life experience of the products in the Experience Room, featuring recently released products such as Real Rain, DTV+ digital shower systems, VibraAcoustic hydrotherapy along with the Veil and Numi Intelligent Toilets*.
Showering experiences can be enjoyed by visitors – bookings required!
Experience suites offer visitors the opportunity to ‘try before they buy’.
Each KOHLER Experience Centre includes an art installation to pay homage to the John Michael Kohler Arts Centre and KOHLER’s dedication to the arts. KEC LAX features the large-scale work of renowned sculptor, David Franklin, a Kohler Artist-in-Residence at Kohler, Wisconsin. The installation – named Ghost School (2015), features a piece from the Kohler Co. permanent collection and is crafted from clay during Franklin’s 2015 residency, celebrates life on the water while giving form to the artist’s continued concern of the ocean environment where he frequently spends time.
David Franklin’s art installation – Ghost School (2015)
Kohler Co. plans to launch a total of 10 KECs in 2017 and 2018 to meet global demand. Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Dubai will follow in 2018.
* Note that not all products are available in this market as yet.
