Duravit announces winners of inaugural bath competition

Duravit has selected the winning projects for its first design competition, the Duravit Designer Dream Bath Competition. After carefully reviewing a wide variety of entries, the panel of judges, consisting of architects and top design media, chose Canadian architect Nicolas Koff as the winner of the competition. Nicolas will be awarded the Duravit items featured in his project up to a value of $15,000. The judges also awarded two Honorable Mentions, Alberto Mizuno and Esteban Cruces of ALBERTO/ESTEBAN, and Roberto Deseda of lowercase, for their innovative project designs.

Duravit USA President Tim Schroeder remarked, "We found Nicolas' design to stand out due to the creative way in which he blended Duravit'’s introductions with environmentally friendly design. We applaud his ability to imaginatively create an accessible bathroom for all ages. We were excited about all of the submissions we received this year, and we look forward to continuing the competition in years to come."

With an emphasis on sustainability and universal design, Nicolas Koff demonstrated a desire to craft an environmentally thoughtful space that utilizes light and spatial awareness to create a functional, calming bathroom. Updating his family home in Ancaster, Ontario with a new ground level master bathroom, Nicolas set off to fashion an accessible bathroom space featuring separate areas for the sink and the bathing/shower area. The division of the room occurs with the addition of a skylight, which floods the bathroom with natural light, and his placement of Duravit fixtures, such as the Happy D.2 tall cabinet. His design masterfully intersperses a range of Duravit’'s new introductions throughout the room, including a drop-in DuraStyle bathtub, a Starck 2 washbasin, and a Happy D.2 mirrored cabinet, and features seating in the shower area.

The two Honorable Mentions, Alberto Munzo and Esteban Cruces of ALBERTO/ESTEBAN, and Roberto Deseda of lowercase, were awarded based on the modern and innovative design aesthetic found within their projects. Alberto and Esteban reimagined a modern Miami bathroom with Duravit’s new introductions. Utilizing all DuraStyle products, including washbasins, a toilet, bidet, tub, vanity, mirror and tall cabinet, the designers were able to create a master bathroom with a sleek aesthetic and luxury feel, complete with an ocean view.

Roberto chose to focus on the renovation a 1970s tropical concrete house in Puerto Rico, which would feature a newly created master bedroom and bathroom interconnected by two rooms. He intermixed a Happy D.2 toilet, washbasin, and tub with an interior patio to create a lush garden environment that also works as an open bathing and grooming space.

This year’'s panel of judges consisted of architects and top design media including Annie Block (Interior Design), Edda Elias (Elias Associates), Marc Kushner (Architizer), Paul Makovsky (Metropolis), and Sharon McHugh (World Architecture News).