Once a year professional journalists and market personalities test the most powerful and innovative products in the area of consumer electronics and sport and lifestyle products.
Based on the categories of Innovation, High Quality, Design, Ease of Use /Functionality, Ecology and Ergonomics the jury of the Plus X Award seeks for real brand quality and awards the outstanding products.
VOLA Round Series won the award “Best Product of the Year 2011” in its category, as well as the Seal of Approval in Innovation, Design and Functionality.
Albert Einstein once said: “More than the past, it is the future that interests me, since that’s where I intend to live.”
With this principle in mind, the Plus X Award distinguishes products that are innovative and viable for the future and possess at least one “Plus X” factor – the additional value of a product.
The seal of approval signifies an expressive buy recommendation for the purchaser at the PoS. With today’s atomistic market structures it is more than ever necessary to help the consumer in his purchase decision and indicate him fast and simply the really innovative and highly qualitative products.
The designer of VOLA Round Series Torben Madsen, ( Aarhus Arkitekterne ) and Birthe Tofting, Director of International Sales and Marketing, VOLA presented the products and answered questions from the jury at the Plus X Award contest in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The Plus X Award – prize for innovative Technologies, Sport and Lifestyle products – honors manufacturers for the quality advantage of the products.
In a jury procedure of several weeks, 134 international specialised journalists and market personalities from 32 nations, assess independently and industry impartial on the basis of the categories innovation, high quality, design, ease of use, functionality, ergonomics and ecology, the high-performance and most innovative products of the technology, sports and lifestyle industries. They decide on the allocation of the Plus X Award distinctions.
The jurors are more than 130 renowned, industry neutral personalities and trade journalists. Plus X Award seals of approval are presented in seven different categories – innovation, high quality, design, ease of use, functionality, ergonomics and ecology. Prerequisite for an award is: The product must be of absolutely the highest quality, have a long life cycle, be functional and its design must be leading-edge.
Vola Round Series
The VOLA Round Series was first launched at the international sanitary fair ISH in Frankfurt in March 2011.
The first products in the new Round Series, a bathroom waste bin and paper tissue dispenser, are designed for the bathrooms of prestigious houses and luxury apartments and can also be specified for washrooms in hotels, restaurants, office buildings and cultural destinations such as galleries, museums and theatres.
Under the headline “Celebrating continuity – celebrating change” VOLA translates its design DNA into new products for the bathroom. The founder of VOLA Verner Overgaard introduced the idea of hiding the technical parts in the wall. This idea is taken as the starting point also for the Round Series.
The circle as a geometrical shape is a key element of the VOLA design, and with the new products the circle is translated into new dimensions. Based on the classic VOLA design the new products have a ring enclosing a cylinder.
The finishes of the ring in either high-polished chrome or brushed stainless steel combined with the fronts in white or black – or for larger projects in any colour – create the reference to the VOLA taps and accessories in the room. For later renovations the fronts can be replaced if another colour is preferred.
With its new modular design concept of a built-in waste-bin and paper tissue holder VOLA offers new creative possibilities to work with space and materials in the bathroom. By combining the texture and colour of the wall and the choice of finish of the outer rings and colour of the front plate the architect or interior designer can create individual and extraordinary design solutions.
True to tradition, the VOLA waste bin is unobtrusive, with the less aesthetically pleasing elements built into the wall. It can be opened by gently pushing the front with a hand or knee. The open / close mechanism is smooth and silent. The built-in waste bin will hold up to 30 tissues while the retro-fit version is available in two sizes holding from 60 to 250 tissues. The built-in waste bin can be mounted near floor level for use as a sanitary towel bin. The bin is easy to empty and with no floor contact, need not be moved for cleaning.
For built-in applications, 15 cm depth in the wall is required. Alternatively, the waste bin can be retro-fitted by building a boxed-out section to provide the depth required.
The second new member of the VOLA Round Series family is the paper tissue holder.
The cylinder holds up to 100 paper tissues. A concealed spring makes sure the tissues are always pushed to the front. Washroom staff can easily see if the dispenser needs refilling and new paper tissues can be simply inserted by pulling the cylinder forward.
The Round Series is designed by Aarhus Arkitekterne A/S. When they were designing the VOLA Academy Aarhus Arkitekterne were asked to design a new series of free-standing mixers as well as a new towel warmer.
For the VOLA Academy Aarhus Arkitekterne also developed an interior design concept for the display of VOLA products that is used in the VOLA showrooms in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Vienna, Munich – and Brussels that was opened in June 2011.
This is an example of a “Gesamtkunstwerk” – of a holistic approach to architecture and design where the various disciplines are integrated to form a uni¬fied whole.
