Swiss bathroom manufacturer Laufen has lifted the curtain on its redeveloped Forum, which offers an immersive, material-forward visitor experience at the heart of its headquarters. Patrick Lüth, managing director of the Snøhetta’s Innsbruck studio, explains how his team turned the Laufen Forum into a cinematic journey and why cultivating emotional physical spaces is paramount to sustained brand engagement.
Can you tell us what Snøhetta has done with the Laufen Forum? What was the original brief?
PATRICK LÜTH: It was a typical situation where we developed the brief as we were going. In dialogue with the client, we started to develop the customer experience, the sequence of spaces and then went all the way in refurbishing the complete interior. It was important for us to create a strong entrance situation for visitors to really connect with the brand right from the beginning. Then we created a sequence of spaces that would complement the customer journey that we developed together with Laufen. There’s a unified framework for how the central niches represent its different product lines.
Patrick Lüth.
How is Laufen’s brand identity articulated through the design?
This was an important part of our assignment: translating the brand identity into a physical identity, because they didn't have one available. It was crucial to come up with a concept that would be much more easily transformed into a space. Most companies have brand identities and manuals, but they often relate to communication material, while physical space has different requirements for delivering on those values. We developed the concept ‘Matter’, and I think it’s omnipresent in the implementation.
Materiality drives that concept. What was your strategy?
At the entrance, we used two basic materials: rammed earth, referencing the raw material of the ceramic, and untreated brass, a nod to the faucets. Laufen is really about the transformation of a basic raw material into a cultivated product for a space for cultivation, which a bathroom really is. We’re human beings – we’re a cultivated species. Being conscious of this transformation was a very important aspect of our work.
Rammed earth and untreated brass reference the raw materials that Laufen uses to produce its sanitaryware in the Forum's entrance.
Upstairs, we used a slightly different material palette. Zinc-plated steel creates idea of a laboratory setting where you can interact with the product, emphasizing playfulness and agility. Downstairs is about elevating the qualities of the product line through the setting, with strong colour connections to the design. The bathroom is a very intimate space. You’re there without your clothing on, you’re very close to the material and need to touch it. To have this moment of intimacy in these niches is important because you need to relate to the product in a familiar setting.
How did you approach sustainability in this project?
What is sustainability in interior architecture? As far as strategies for developing sustainable buildings go, we have a lot of methodologies to reduce the CO2 footprint. But if it’s about an interior refurbishment, there is only so much you can do. You need to pay good attention to detail, materialization and create a space where people have a strong emotional relationship. Creating a lasting space is most important.
So this emotional relationship really relates to the longevity of the work?
Absolutely.
There are slight variations used in the materials used on the first and second floors of the space, providing a layered experience.
There’s a 360-degree digital space in the Forum. How does it augment the showroom?
We’ve included a digital display space in the back. We’re all so familiar with digital interfaces and carry personal screens around. We aimed to create a much more immersive digital experience to take that to the next level. Because simply placing screens is pointless. So our goal was to develop an engaging and emotional digital experience that you can only experience through physicality. The rest of the Forum is quite analogue, building on typical qualities of material, space and light. The client can decide on how to curate that space: they can use it for information or a space for artistic possibilities.
Why do you think showrooms are becoming more experiential?
The purpose of a showroom is no longer to provide a consumer information. It’s really creating an emotional brand experience – that will resonate much more long term. When we worked on the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, we talked a lot about the memory of the place. If you’ve been there and walked on the roof, it’s not the image that you remember, but the physical experience. We’ve also collaborated with companies like Aesop, which really understands that physical space can be used to create memory.
Does this relate to us being online so much?
Yes. In any conversation we have now, if we are doubtful about anything, somebody can look it up in five seconds. Information is omnipresent, but for a physical experience, you still need a physical space.
