Laufen redesigns the modern working world

The modern working world is changing; the borderline between offices and public areas is becoming increasingly blurred. In view of this, what are the required standards for sanitary facilities at work?

The example of the new building to house the corporate headquarters of Scott Sports in Switzerland shows how an office building can become a key location for health-conscious living and working: The semi-public sanitary rooms will be equipped with washbasin solutions specially produced for Scott Sports by the Swiss bathroom specialist Laufen, plus digitally controlled sensor faucets for the washbasin, shower and urinal. The project is planned and implemented with BIM.

The new Head Office of Scott Sports, located in Givisiez, south-west of Berne, meets all requirements imposed by the modern working world: Here, private life, office atmosphere and public areas all blend together. The sports equipment manufacturer stands for technical innovations in the areas of skiing, motocross and cycling. Cycling to work in the morning, exercising during the lunch break and taking a shower afterwards is common practice among the company staff. Due to its global success, the company’s new headquarters will attract many visitors to see the showroom with a view of the pump track, where the newly developed Scott bikes are tested.

To meet the needs of almost 600 staff members and the large number of visitors, the new building project, which will be completed in spring 2019, includes 44 sanitary rooms with individual washbasin solutions, cloak rooms, changing rooms, shower cubicles and even washing facilities for the bikes. All sanitary rooms are placed at logistically convenient locations. The changing rooms, for example, are located on the ground floor, so that they will be easy to reach by bike.

For the interior design of the numerous semi-public sanitary facilities, the client and the executing Swiss IttenBrechbühl bureau of architecture engaged Laufen. The Swiss bathroom equipment manufacturer is well known for its bespoke projects and as a partner for made-to-measure individual bathroom solutions.

“In this project, a major concern on the part of the client was the clean, puristic design of the washbasins. The customised solution also allowed us to integrate soap and paper towel dispensers in the washbasins, thus saving us the installation of additional wall fixtures.” – Tima Kamberi, responsible for the project at IttenBrechbühl.

Laufen is installing a washbasin solution specially designed and manufactured for this project at the new Scott Sports building. The development process for the washbasins was guided by two basic principles: functionality and design. 

Custom-made washbasins made of Sentec

In order to meet the specific requirements for the washbasins, Laufen uses the proven mineral material Sentec, which combines a large number of excellent product attributes. “Thanks to Laufen’s high-quality cast mineral material, we had no problems with implementing the original idea for the washbasins”, says Kamberi. The custom-made cast mineral products contribute their refinement and individuality to the unique character of the prestigious building and illustrate how the Swiss bathroom specialist supports architects and designers worldwide in their pursuit of unique creative vision.

In addition to the bespoke washbasin solutions, several other products from Laufen are used in all of the sports equipment manufacturer’s sanitary facilities: infrared-controlled urinals, washbasin and shower faucets, as well as SaphirKeramik washbasins from the Val series, combined with faucets from Kartell by Laufen. The advantage of infrared-controlled faucets in semi-public areas: they can be operated intuitively and hygienically and are easy to clean. They also cause only minimal operating and maintenance costs even with heavy use. In the new building project of Scott Sports, they are even connected with the building’s automation system.

Contactless operation of the faucets for better hygiene and more convenience

For the washbasin faucets, Laufen’s puristic, elegant, infrared-controlled, flush-mounted, self-closing Twintronic tap model was chosen for easy, contactless operation. With large numbers of visitors, as are to be expected at Scott Sports, a vandalism-proof design for the faucets is indispensable. The control system for the 40 showers follows the same contactless principle.

The technology integrated in the faucets and also in the urinal control system provides options for several different settings: So the functions preset at the factory can be re-programmed for individual needs either manually via a sensor or with an appropriate app. In the washbasin faucets, the sensor range, the maximum water flow time and the stopping time can be set individually. Another useful feature for large office buildings with many sanitary rooms is that the faucets and the urinals can be organised and controlled either individually or in appropriate product groups.

Entire construction process with Building Information Modelling (BIM)

The whole building complex of the new Scott Sports headquarters was realised by IttenBrechbühl using intelligent Building Information Modelling (BIM). For this, the bureau of architecture even won the “Arc Award BIM Gold”.

For several years, the bathroom specialist Laufen has already made available a major part of its current product portfolio online in the form of BIM-compatible data. At the address, Revit and ArchiCAD files are provided, and information about numerous technical attributes – such as available sizes, colours and options – can be found there, as well as links to additional helpful technical information.

As an internationally leading bathroom equipment manufacturer, Laufen is aware of the increasing significance of BIM for professional planning of building projects. From the building project with Scott Sports, the company has gathered valuable experience for future work with this innovative system.

Did you see BCFA member at ISH this year? They discussed their latest design innovations and functional product ranges during the show. You can find more about Laufen on Design Insider by searching for their projects and products.

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