Hansgrohe/Axor is starting 2014 with a number of prestigious honours under its belt. Organizations in the U.S. and abroad have lauded the company for its innovation and ingenuity in design in the kitchen and bath industry.
Says Sibylle Mair, interim president of Hansgrohe N.A., “Whether it is here at Hansgrohe North America, or at our affiliates across the globe, we set the bar high. We are proud to have an exceptional team that is dedicated to helping us deliver superior service and products. This commitment to excellence is part of our company DNA. When our industry takes notice and formally recognizes our achievements, it is truly an honour. We are thankful to these institutions and to all those who have contributed to our success.”
Distinctions include:
2013 Georgia Launching Opportunities By Exporting (G.L.O.B.E) Award For the past four years, Hansgrohe/Axor has been successfully increasing export of its U.S. assembled, German-engineered products to emerging markets overseas, resulting in mutually beneficial international business relations and, most recently, garnering the attention of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. This past month, the Governor of Georgia formally bestowed the organization’s G.L.O.B.E award upon Hansgrohe/Axor, commending the company for its excellence in international trade in 2013. The company was also recognized for supporting the U.S. workforce, while strengthening Georgia’s position in global commerce. Through its export business, Hansgrohe/Axor is especially pleased that it has been able to help to preserve water by offering its flow-optimized products to those regions that lack a mature water-usage framework and have been facing water shortages for years.
World Interiors News Annual Awards Axor Starck Organic was shortlisted for World Interiors News Annual Awards in the Interior Accessories category. The awards celebrate and present the best international interior design and cutting-edge products. The 2013 expert jury included Ed Richardson, director at MODUS; Pavlo Schtakleft, founder of Se; Piyush Suri, director and founder of Handmade in Britain; Justin Pratt, manager of the U.K. & International London Division of Knoll Studio; Philippa Prinsloo, senior designer at John Lewis; Heather Naylor from B & B Italia, and Sir Terence Conran, designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. Of the Axor Starck Organic faucets, jury member Ed Richardson says, “This is progressive in tap design: natural and organic. It looks like it performs beautifully and is very tactile.”
red dot design award The red dot design awards’ iconic red dot symbol is internationally known, signifying the “best in design and business.” Axor is excited to receive the 2013 award for Axor Starck Organic in the product design category. In addition to the main award, several individual products from the collection were given a “Best of the Best” rating, an accolade awarded to only 58 products out of the 4,662 submitted. Beyond pure aesthetics, the 37 members of the jury assessed innovation, functionality, ergonomics and sustainability.
Interior Design Best Of Year Award Each year, Interior Design, one of the pre-eminent U.S. publications for architecture and design, sponsors the annual Best of Year design competition in recognition of superior interior design products. Top architects and designers selected awards recipients via online vote. The Axor Starck Organic collection earned the prestigious Best of Year title in the Kitchen and Bath fittings category. Interior Design’s editor-In-chief Cindy Allen personally presented the award to Axor NYC Design Studio Manager Luky “Jade” Ng at the awards celebration at Frank Gehry’s IAC Building in Chelsea in December.
Architectural Record Editor’s Choice One of the leading architectural publications, Architectural Record notes, “Every year an influx of new products comes onto the market promising more efficiency, additional options, improved performance, less environmental impact, and sometimes, simply, a more handsome design.” The magazine’s response was to create its annual Record Products competition to identify standouts across categories. For the 2013 jury, the editors enlisted the help of prominent architects, designers, as well as materials and product specifiers at top firms. The Axor Citterio Kitchen collection was recognized for its superior properties in the Plumbing/HVAC category.
Professional Remodeler’s & Professional Builder’s 101 Best New Products Report These respected trade publication chose the Axor Starck Kitchen Collection for special “101 Best New Products” issues, which features the industry’s “breakthrough” introductions. The outlets called the Axor Starck Kitchen suite “stylish and user-friendly.”
Architectural Products Product Innovation Awards Architectural Products Product Innovation Awards is organized by Architectural Products magazine and judged by a group of 50 independent industry professionals. The program “represents a mechanism to impartially review product and present to readers’ items their peers found innovative and worth investigating.” Axor Starck Organic was one of of the recipients of the 2013 honor and was featured in a dedicated issue.
KBCULTURE Awards 2013 The KBCULTURE Awards focuses on recognizing the very best in Kitchen & Bath. In the 2013 edition, Axor Starck Organic took the #1 spot in the bathroom-fittings category Leslie Clagett, founder of the KBCULTURE blog and Janice Costa, the editor of Kitchen & Bath Design News, judged the awards. The blog noted that the faucet’s fluid form was noted as ”pleasing to the eye.” It was also praised for its functionality and impressively eco friendly properties.
The Interior Innovation Award “Best of Best” 2014 For the second time Axor has succeeded in winning one of the furniture and interior design industry’s most prestigious awards: the Interior Innovation Award – “Best of Best” 2014 for its Axor showers with Front and Nendo. Says head of Axor Philippe Grohe, “Receiving this award is a wonderful reward for three years of intensive collaboration with the Swedish design trio Front and the Japanese design studio Nendo.” Grohe and Anna Lindgren, from Front Design, accepted the much sought-after prize at the IMM Cologne’s official opening ceremony.
Wallpaper* Design Award 2014 An exclusive program, the international design and lifestyle tome’s awards only accepts brands that are nominated for the award and boasts a jury of high-caliber names, including Pritzker-prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, fashion designer Victoria Beckham and U.S. and music producer / film director Spike Jonze, among others. Axor WaterDream by Front was named “Best Shower.” Axor was in good company; brands like Prada and international star designers like Neri & Hu were also among those honoured.
As Hansgrohe/Axor heads further into 2014, these honours will serve as a reminder to continue to pioneer in the field.
ABOUT HANSGROHE
Founded in 1901, Hansgrohe is the premium brand for bathroom and kitchen fixtures, and a market leader in showers and shower systems, as well as thermostat, pressure balance and ceramic cartridge technology. A winner of numerous awards throughout the world, Hansgrohe is regarded as one of the leading innovators in technology and design, with inventions such as the adjustable wallbar, multiple-spray handshowers and showerheads, the QuickClean function and AIR and water-saving EcoRight technology. These and other original products have helped reinvent the modern bathroom a
s a more functional, more comfortable and more beautiful living space. It is no coincidence that Hansgrohe’s offerings can be found in prominent and prestigious projects such as the Aqua Building in Chicago, Terminal 5 in London’s Heathrow Airport, Las Vegas’ City Center, Jean-Marie Massaud’s Chivas Stadium in Mexico, and the Masdar City Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, among others.
Based in Schiltach in the Black Forest region of Germany, Hansgrohe has a global workforce of about 3,200 employees and serves customers in over 130 countries through 42 subsidiaries and branches. Known for taking tough action against product piracy and intellectual property theft, the company currently operates 10 manufacturing facilities, including six in Germany, as well as single plants in France, the Netherlands and China. In addition, the company manufactures and assembles many of its Hansgrohe-branded products for North America at its modern manufacturing facility in Alpharetta, Georgia, in the United States.
ABOUT AXOR
Axor, the designer brand of Hansgrohe SE, successfully realizes “Designer Visions for Your Bathroom.” In cooperation with Axor, leading product designers, architects and interior designers develop their vision for the bathroom as a living space. The Axor collections offer a great number of unique and sustainable solutions to create personalized bathrooms of the highest aesthetic and technological levels. To date, Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio, Jean-Marie Massaud, Patricia Urquiola, as well as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have created Axor collections. They all contribute towards making life in and around the bathroom a little more meaningful and beautiful. The Axor brand is headed by Philippe Grohe.
Find out more about Axor at www.facebook.com/axor.design
For more information on Hansgrohe and Axor, visit www.hansgrohe-usa.com