Challenge

In 2010, a project to design and produce more than fifty deep soaking tubs for a luxury hotel in Southport proved so successful that it spawned a series of new product launches on the part of British bath specialist Design & Form Limited / Cabuchon Bathforms.

Project Requirements

The Lancashire based manufacturer originally won the contract to produce the baths for the award-winning Vincent Hotel as a result of a meeting with its owner. The discussions took place at the suggestion of the interior design and architectural agency, DesignLSM, which was aware that Design & Form already produced a range of deep soaking tubs, developed in the style of the traditional Japanese Ofuro.

The boutique hotel, which provides modern accommodation and caters for weddings, conferences and corporate events, required sixty new bathrooms, most of which would feature Minimalist versions of broadly the same deep soaking design.

Solution

Delivering the Solution

The hotel owner visited Design & Form’s manufacturing centre in Morecambe to explain the project and to discuss a number of special requirements. Of the 60 rooms, four would have showers alone and 56 would have soaking tubs, of which 15 would be produced in a special, larger size. They were all to be custom built to a design that satisfied the hotel’s spatial and aesthetic requirements.

Additionally, the client requested a bespoke, double (2 person) soaking tub for the rooftop terrace of the penthouse suite, complete with an advanced hydrotherapy system. This, together with the 56 other baths, had to be designed, approved, built and delivered on site within a period of just 12 weeks.

Design & Form managing director Tony Pontin began by showing the owner a prototype model with an ergonomically sculpted back as well as a shallow seat, head and foot rests. The basic specification for the Minimalist design was set out, and it was agreed that this would subsequently be developed in the two sizes required. A third, entirely different double model would be produced for the penthouse suite.

Despite the tight deadline, Design & Form designed, manufactured and delivered all the baths on schedule within just 10 working weeks.

Outcome

Project Result

Guests at The Vincent responded very positively to the new baths, as General Manager Damon Yoxall explained:

“Customer delight is the absolute priority at The Vincent so it’s important that every aspect of the guest experience is positive and memorable. In the bathrooms, the tubs provided by Design & Form play an important role in realising this; their look and feel fits in very well with the hotel’s boutique design and they always make a striking first impression. They’re elegant but quirky and they take us well away from the ordinary, which is the goal we’ve always pursued. We get some really good feedback from guests about the baths and they seem to appeal particularly to younger, design-conscious customers.”

Since the installation at The Vincent, Design & Form has added both sizes of the Minimalist tub, with small modifications, to its Cabuchon Bathforms Deep Soaking Tub range. They are now branded as the Calyx 1230 and the Calyx 1440 and have quickly become two of the company’s best-selling models worldwide.

Like all Cabuchon baths, the products supplied for The Vincent Hotel were manufactured from Ficore®, a solid composite material developed by Design & Form to offer important benefits in comparison to more conventional materials.