Case Study: Middelkoop

This Dutch retailer is a true family business, having been in the family for three generations, beginning with K. Middelkoop in 1933. It started as a hardware and wood supplier but has grown to become a highly successful mid to high-end kitchen and bathroom retailer. In this case study designer Danny Rozema takes us through his winning brief to find out more about his methods…

What was the brief for the design that won the competition?

We have lots of inspiration here in the showroom, with about 45 complete bathroom displays. However, this customer was a little different in that he had very specific ideas. He gave us lots of detail about his property and presented us with a sketch showing what he wanted.

This customer liked the Corten or Industrial style with exposed pipework, metallic finishes. He liked that coppery colour and we had tiles in that colour in the showroom but the combination with the green and teal blue was a bit different. He also wanted specific light switches, and it was his idea to add the small detail of the LED strip between the bath and shower.

The original bathroom space was a metre and a half smaller than it now, but the client specified that he wanted both a bath and a shower and told us we could build out into the bedroom and take some of the closet space there to make the bathroom bigger.

Tell us more about your design process and why you made the decisions you did with this project.

So, we took a lot of time getting this initial design and planning right, so that we could incorporate everything without eating into too much additional square footage.

We usually have a rough plan with all the technical and structural elements in place. We will then go into the showroom to find the products that will flesh out the design in Innoplus. We will go through all this with the customer. In this case, because the client had some ideas, we worked with him and came up with the colour combination, which took about 15 minutes. We also tried to match elements the customer had specified with other bathroom elements – so, for example, we matched the glass light switches he had chosen with complementary controls from Hansgrohe for the shower.

The biggest hurdle was the layout of the bathroom and the customer was really happy with our suggestions.

What do you like about Innoplus?

Innoplus is great because it’s accurate to the millimetre, it gives you good renders, decent catalogues and the support is great.

What I like most is the ability you have to customise the software by creating your own cards. This can take a lot of time but is totally worth it. With our own design cards and fabric cards, we can draw a complete bathroom and we don’t use the standard cards at all. It’s all very specific.

Everyone in our company uses these cards because all of the details that we put into them means customers can have a personal design in a couple of clicks. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bathroom of £15k or £50k – the result is a couple of minutes away. This gives an extra advantage in creating the technical drawings, and it’s more cost-effective as we already have the templates ready to go.

How did you get into bathroom design?

Previous to working here I worked in a lighting design store. I was there for eight years, advising on lighting to customers. I wasn’t really looking to get into bathroom design but the combination of the technical with the customer-facing elements appealed to me so here I am.

What tips do you have for other designers looking to create a sumptuous bathroom for relaxing?

For customers who want something very specific, you have to make sure you come up with something and impress them in a very short time. This customer was a great example of someone who wanted something but didn’t want to wait around for ages for a drawing. So, be prepared. Make sure you have the design completed, or somewhere near completed, or with elements you can simply drag and drop in to bring the design together quickly for the customer. If you’re prepared in this way you can then focus on the small details that perfect and finish the room.

Why would you recommend Innoplus?

The accuracy also means there’s little room for error and means you’re less likely to face costly remedials.

I would recommend users take some time to create their “own” Innoplus by creating detailed cards that can be easily dropped into place. If you do that then it will really help you respond to customer needs quickly.