The supplier industry demonstrates time and again how innovations can transform living environments. Every two years in May, interzum presents innovations for the design of tomorrow’s living spaces. Here are just a few of the highlights rushed from the show.
Blum presented its new MERIVOBOX box drawer system that allows you to create a broad range with just a few components. The new system is based on a platform concept. At the heart is the cabinet profile with one fixing position for all applications. Thanks to its special L-shape, the runner system boasts enhanced vertical stability and high load bearing capacities.
Blum also presented its SERVO-DRIVE smart concept study to demonstrate how wall cabinets and pull-outs, dishwashers and refrigerators can be opened and closed with simple, spoken commands. And the new MINIPRESS top drilling and insertion machine by Blum produces precise assembly results to a depth of 350 mm and it’s even possible to carry out central line drilling.
EGGER received no less than three awards at the show including ‘Best of the Best’ for Egger’s PerfectSense and the Duo edging. EGGER presented many new products including brushed metal that is extremely realistic with light haptics for tactile sensation. Their PerfectSense gloss and matt is now available on both sides of the board to enhance design flexibility. EGGER spends a staggering eighty million Euros every year on research and development on edgings and surfaces and has come up with a new surface PerfectSense Topmatt laminate with scratch and fingerprint resistant properties.
The Fenix NTA product is a metallic surface that is extremely matt, features a pleasant touch and is fingerprint resistant. The product won an interzum award for ‘Intelligent Material and Design’ and follows the red dot award the product won earlier this year. Fenix released four new colours in their new ‘Bloom’ lignin-based technology that increases the use of natural raw materials in the core of their Arpa HPL and NTM products.
From GRASS comes a new slim flap lift Kinvaro T-Slim. The flap lift blends into the cabinet side almost invisibly and unlocks new possibilities for overhead wall cabinets. GRASS reduced the mechanism of the lift-up fitting down to an overall size of 12 millimetres so it can be inset into the minimum 16mm board and ‘disappears’ completely. Whether in the kitchen, bathroom or living room; particularly wide, rather than tall, storage solutions with lift-up flaps are currently undergoing a renaissance.
Kinvaro T-Slim’s effect on the furniture’s aesthetics comes into its own on glass front flaps with aluminium frames. This reduction in size means the flap lift-up mechanism takes up no space and the cabinet storage space can be used to its full potential. This year the GRASS logo has been tweaked to appear more like an app picture and the green colour has also been subtly lightened.
A feature of the Häfele stand was once again, digitalisation. Häfele Connect technology displayed the example of a micro-apartment, networked with smart components, and a kitchen with sophisticated lighting, controlled by a smartphone or tablet. The new ‘Free space’ stay flap fitting, is a world first that creates more space in cabinets. It eliminates the need for large cover caps and, with an internal installation depth of only 63 mm, opens up new room for furniture design in narrow cabinets. The flap fitting won an interzum award, and a highly-coveted red dot design award.
IXCONNECT is a production of furniture such as drawers assembled without the use of tools. Holes are still needed in the parts but the connectors are installed by hand, the drawer is finished by inserting the back and then applying clips that hold the drawer together. IXCONNECT won an interzum award. We are also pleased to report that the AXILO plinth adjuster we reported from the 2017 interzum has been awarded a red dot award.
In the megatrend towards urbanisation, every inch matters. Hettich showed how attractive and convenient storage solutions can be for sloping ceilings. Or how a home office or pantry kitchen can be invisibly integrated in a very small space in the living room.
The new ‘AvanTech YOU’ drawer system permits exceptionally slimline, purist design that manages without visible screw heads or cover caps. With TopLine XL, doors weighing up to 100 kg gently open and close with unequalled ease, almost making them appear to float. All of the solutions on show at interzum were intended to provide people with inspiration to design their own furniture or entire room concepts. Customers can retrieve the ideas for living room, kitchen, bathroom and office furniture, including construction plans, online from the Design Gallery on Hettich’s homepage.
An open storage space that is straightforward and effortless to access contributes to a spacious and airy living space concept. This trend has inspired Kesseböhmer to develop a ladder shelving unit that debut under the name of “YouK”. Holzwerk Rockenhausen in conjunction with Kesseböhmer presented a new, sustainable material which they intend to use in the future in the manufacture of their interior fittings for drawers and pull-outs. “OrganiQLine” is based on fast-growing renewable hemp and flax fibres from regional suppliers and a water-based binding agent which is formaldehyde and phenol-free.
Lamello’s Tenso P-14 is a self-clamping connector that allows you to assemble a glued cabinet without clamps. The fitting has a very high clamping force and also assists in the alignment of the glued components. It’s possible to glue and assemble a cabinet even on-site with the Tenso P-14 fitting. The Lamello P-fittings are widely known in the cabinet industry and in January this year Lamello launched their P-10 Tenso fitting that allows the connecting of thin materials from a thickness of only 12mm.
LINAK offers actuator systems for comfort beds, bringing more comfort in lightweight slatted beds and robust box-spring beds. During interzum, LINAK presented their new hand control HC40, setting new standards in user-friendliness and design. In addition to the various adjustment possibilities, there are massage functions. LINAK carried out a survey, interviewing end-users and bed manufacturers. Based on their inputs, LINAK developed the new hand control, available in two versions; both available as a standard version without display and as advanced version with display.
Rehau edgings and surfaces presented their ‘Future Apartment’ concept developed by design studio Ippolito Fleitz that introduced ‘functions-embedded surfaces’ and technologies adding smart and emotional values to contemporary living. Three new edge colours reflect the ‘magic of the Himalaya’s, the icy Antarctic and the volcanoes of Mexico.’
Salice displayed their new Futura F60 drawer runner with 60 Kg load capacity. Another highlight was the EvoLift flap hinge for single and bi-fold cabinet doors available in white or titanium. Quite a hit was the Exedra2 pocket-door system displayed in a walk-in robe situation. The doors are pulled out of a cavity on either side of the cabinet and unfold to hide the contents of the robe. The system was available last year but only as a single-door variant. Salice’s Slider sliding system for coplanar doors was also a crowd-stopper, displayed in a kitchen setting where cabinets on either side of an inbuilt oven and microwave had doors that could be slid with the slightest touch without restricting access to the cooking appliances.
Schattdecor presented new decors and trends based on international developments and research. The surface specialist revealed this on its brand new YouTube channel, available in German and English starting late May. Schattdecor has recently introduced decors with a special watermark that had been incorporated into the decor surface as an invisible structure. This watermark adds significant value for customers when combined with an app that can used to scan it. By scanning the surface, customers can access the decor manufacturer’s app page and will find a wealth of useful information about that product.
Sonae Arauco exhibited around 100 new decors and five innovative surfaces in their the new ‘Innovus’ collection, and 3DF, their Three-Dimensional Fibreboard, a mouldable formaldehyde free wood-based composite that can be shaped into an endless variety of formats. Sonae Arauco is distributed in Australia.
Titus showed visitors how they can simplify Ready-To-Assemble (RTA) furniture by providing simpler instructions; fewer parts and an easier assembly process. Titus is the only producer who can offer the complete ‘pre-insertion’ solution in combination of Quickfit TL dowel and Fastfit machine.
Vauth-Sagel’s motto was ‘OpenUp’ an invitation to open up to the products; corporate culture; global trends and the use of spaces. A highlight was VS ELEMENTS that ensures living and sleeping zones and bathrooms flow into each other seamlessly. Available with or without fronts, it meets the requirements of open-plan living as well as the need for intimacy. The universal submodules are available in various materials. The award-winning VS SUB Comfort comes out directly towards the user when the cabinet doors are opened. VS SUB Comfort is based on clever kinematics that transfer the rotary motion of the doors so the speed at which the drawers come out is increased or decreased at an even, gentle pace. The upper tray can be pushed back in without the need for any additional action.
The trend towards open plan living where rooms can be used for different and diverse purposes continues unabated. Digitalisation is also a mega-trend but at the moment it’s being shown for the wow factor and needs to be discretely hidden within the living environment, we are likely to see more at AWISA next year. A comprehensive interzum coverage will appear in the next edition of Supplier Magazine, if you couldn’t make the show, don’t miss the report.
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