The House of Rohl is still a relatively new name in the industry, but the members of the group are anything but. Shaws have been making fireclay sinks in Darwen, Lancashire for more than 125 years.
Perrin & Rowe is recognised as one of Britain’s best brassware and sanitaryware manufacturers, and Victoria + Albert has helped define the modern freestanding bath. The exception is tap designers Riobel, from Quebec, introduced to the Europe at the same time as the House of Rohl.
The roots of the House of Rohl name, and the reason for its existence, go back over 40 years. Ken Rohl, an American working for a US distributor, visited Europe on a buying trip and was astonished by the quality of design and manufacture. Most of the brands he saw weren’t available back home. Ken went on to establish his own business, and with his family built it so successfully they could acquire the brands they distributed. Today Rohl distribution is part of a Fortune 500-listed company, Fortune Brands. House of Rohl is their luxury portfolio.
The four individual brands work naturally well together. A Perrin & Rowe Ionian traditional bridge mixer perfectly complements a Shaws Butler sink. The Riobel Parabola tap works perfectly with the Victoria + Albert Barcelona bath. House of Rohl takes advantage of this, presenting the brands as a family – a curated collection of some of the finest kitchen and bathroom products available.
This is a big year for the House of Rohl. It will be at ISH in Frankfurt for the first time (although Victoria + Albert has exhibited as a stand-alone brand for some years), marking a significant investment in the brands. At ISH Perrin & Rowe will unveil their new Armstrong bathroom collection. The launch follows the success of the Armstrong kitchen range. This award-winning design has rapidly become one of Perrin & Rowe’s most popular taps. The distinctive knurled handles and raised levers also feature in the new bathroom range, a homage to our industrial past.
At the same time in London, during Design Week, Victoria + Albert will launch their Lussari bath collection. An innovative solution for almost any bathroom, the Lussari offers the same stylish and ergonomic profile in the form of a corner bath, a back-to-wall bath and a conventional freestanding model. Victoria + Albert’s unique material, QuarrycastTM, is ideally suited to these sculptural shapes, giving them sharp edges and organic curves while being strong and durable enough to support a 25 year customer warranty.
Shaws are the oldest manufacturer of Butler sinks still in operation. Shaws’ current range includes many sinks that were first made over 100 years ago. So the launch of a new Shaws sink is a special occasion. The new Hawkshaw is an apron-fronted double-bowl sink. The larger bowl is more than twice as big as the smaller one, and the dividing wall is low. This means that both sides of the sink can be filled at once – useful for washing large roasting trays in a kitchen. The Hawkshaw will be launched simultaneously at ISH and London Design Week.
In Frankfurt, most visitors to ISH will be seeing Riobel for the first time. The range of four bathroom taps and five kitchen taps brings fresh style to an extremely competitive European brassware market. In the House of Rohl London showroom, at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, they have been quickly identified by designers as a must-have new look. Fully establishing Riobel in Europe is a long-term project. Owner Fortune Brands has committed the resources, and the designs deserve to find an audience.
House of Rohl London brand showroom, Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, London SW10 0XE, U.K. [email protected]
Guest blog provided by this weeks #MemberMonday House of Rohl