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The New Bathroom Range from Duravit

For this week’s Wednesday Ad Break I’m delighted to introduce you to Duravit, a bathroom company that was founded over 200 years ago in Germany’s Black Forest and with whom I am collaborating this year. Even as I type my builder is working on my shower room (installed eight years ago and, until he arrived, leaking via both roof and floor). I will show you the finished room next month when it’s all done.

The new D- Neo range from Duravit
The new D- Neo range from Duravit

In the meantime, I’m going to show you their latest collection and while they have over 170,000 product lines (this includes all the screws and fixings) a new collection is an event as they prefer to create long-lasting designs that are not subject to the vagaries of fashion and trends.

In a further effort to promote sustainability Duravit also offers a lifetime guarantee on all ceramics. And it’s worth pointing out the fashion thing – I am still shocked by the builder who came to install my kitchen worktop and told me that he has clients who replace their worktop on an annual basis because they have gone off it or are bored with the look.

The new D- Neo range from Duravit
The new D- Neo range from Duravit

So, from that point of view, buying a design that has a lifetime guarantee and that is a fairly classic design is a good way of ensuring you don’t have, or want, to needlessly replace something.

The new D-Neo range has been styled in four different ways to give you an idea of how it might fit into your own home. It was designed by Bertrand Lejoly, a Belgian who set up his own studio in 2018 and is new to the Duravit family of designers which includes Philippe Starck (more on him later in the year) and Cecilie Manz, creator of the gorgeous Luv range.

This is also the first time the company has added taps to a collection and they have also used hygienic glazes which make everything easier to clean. Duravit say their glaze inhibits 90 per cent of bacteria growth in six hours and 99.9 per cent in 24 hours. You can also specify WonderGliss, an optional extra, which is a coating that limescale can’t stick to. And how I wish I had known about that before I did my shower room in black tiles, which is why, whisper it, the leak actually came as a rather welcome excuse to redo the room.

The new D- Neo range from Duravit
The new D-Neo range from Duravit

So as well as the taps, the range includes sanitaryware and storage as well as mirror cabinets and mirror lights. In recognition of the small bathrooms that many of us have, the vanity units (which come in walnut, white, grey and oak) are wall-mounted so you see more floor.

There are several basins to choose from – one is thin and oval, which is elegant, while the other has wide edges meaning you can rest stuff round the edges – less elegant more practical? Or, if space is tight, you can opt for the asymmetric version which has a wide space on one side only. The former is lovely if you can find enough storage elsewhere or have room for a shelf for the toothpaste. In our tiny shower room there was no room for a shelf so the 17yo 3D-printed himself a toothbrush holder which he clipped onto the side of the basin. Enterprising yes. Elegant no. The new space will have a shelf. It would have had a niche but opening up the wall revealed pipework, joists and a brick supporting wall. A shelf is cheaper.

The new D- Neo range from Duravit
The new D- Neo range from Duravit

Duravit was founded in 1817 as an earthernware factory making crockery. In 1956, they started using porcelain and from there to sanitaryware. Set in the heart of the Black Forest (it sponsors the national park) the company uses resource-saving methods such as water treatment and heat recovery and has received official certification for its environmental commitment.

The new D- Neo range from Duravit
The new D- Neo range from Duravit

It’s rare I like a company’s tag line – they can often seem contrived and too “markety” but Duravit says of the D-Neo: “outrageous amount of design at an attractive price”.

You might have to be the judge of that but it’s a good line. Duravit would class this range as “premium economy” if that helps. Although who can remember what it’s like to be on a plane?

This post is part of a paid collaboration with Duravit for 2021. Working with brands I like on this basis allows me to keep bringing you four free, and organic, posts a week. Please do support by reading, commenting and sharing which will allow me to carry on. 

The new D- Neo range from Duravit
The new D- Neo range from Duravit
Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

9 Comments

  1. I fell for the Luv range but why oh why must we be burdened with their logo advertisement inside the basin each time we clean out teeth or wash out hands? From a thoughtful designer I would ask, Logo free please.

  2. It all began in Hornberg, Germany in 1817 when Georg Friedrich Horn built an earthenware factory initially focused solely on the manufacture of crockery. In 1956, production evolved from earthenware to porcelain, extending the product range to include sanitary ceramics.

  3. We have used Duravit on three fit outs now and can absolutely vouch for their longevity – classic Philippe Starck designs stand the test of time which you need if the product also lasts well! Will be looking at this new price point …

  4. This range looks great. We have a Duravit Vero washbasin in our shower room and I can vouch for its good looks and longevity – it’s been in situ for 12 years and more and still looks and feels good. Feel your pain on the limescale scourge in London. We have Matki shower screens, which promise anti-scale coating, but somehow I still find myself regularly scrubbing with the old white vinegar/HG products. And the shower trims always need replacing. Expoxy-based grouts have improved resilience for tiling, but basically, water is your enemy in hardwater areas. Will be interested to hear how this WonderGliss coating works out – my own plumber is visiting on Friday and I can ask him his views.

  5. These look great. However, I went to the Duravit site and asked about retailers near me, there are none within 50 miles and I live in London which is strange.

    1. That’s odd as there’s a showroom on the Clerkenwell Road. And I know that West One bathrooms is a stockist so I’m sure there are others. I will ask for a full list.

  6. I’ve just had a Duravit bath installed and I love it. It was the only brand which offered a bath suitable for the small space I had to work with. It’s a short bath but very wide and deep. A bit pricey, but worth it.

    1. Ooh Karen, would you mind being more specific on which one? This is exactly what I am about to need!

      1. Hi, it’s the Duravit DuraStyle 1400 x 800mm Rectangular Bath – just google it and you will find a few places which supply it. I bought it with the feet, but not the front panel and had it boxed in with the same tiles as the walls. It is a short bath but because it’s deep and wide I don’t notice it.

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