In Sync with Sinks

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum-specifically the Laufen Forum, an exhibition and visitor center adjacent to the bath giant's headquarters in the Swiss town of Laufen.

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 10/1/2011 5:40:00 PM

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum-specifically the Laufen Forum, an exhibition and visitor center adjacent to the bath giant's headquarters in the Swiss town of Laufen. The epitome of architecture as brand statement, it's a basin that grew up to become a building. Nissen Wentzlaff Architekten partners Timothy Oliver Nissen and Daniel Wentzlaff intended the oval volume as a giant replica of the manufacturer's Palomba basin by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba. 

This 21,000-square-foot, two-story "basin" of reinforced concrete doesn't contain water, of course. Just fixtures, fittings, and tiles that facilitate its use. Past the ground level's exhibit and event space, a skylit atrium, a spiral staircase ascends­ to a showroom offering Laufen's full range. Collections such as Il Bagno­ Alessi and Mimo are separated into perimeter bays, some of them featuring "test baths" that can be filled. Because­ the building's naturally insulating shell keeps inside temperatures comfortable-with little heat and no air-conditioning-taking a dip is a tempting proposition. 866-696-2493; laufen.com.