Laorus Showcases Galvanized-steel Fountain At 100% Design In London
Laorus, which is based in Eastern France, makes innovative and unique fountains in galvanized coated steel that can be placed in private gardens and public spaces (such as the patios of hotels or restaurants), thus reviving a long tradition in Europe.
- (1888PressRelease) August 29, 2013 - The Laorus product range is the result of fruitful co-operation between founder Claire Chopitel and designer Patrick Nadeau. Laorus will be on the French Pavilion at the 100% Design trade show in London, between 18 and 21 September 2013.
Claire Chopitel explains: "This represents the revival of a great classic that can be free-standing or fully installed, and it comes with a wide and clever range of accessories - a basin, a tripod stand, and a garden hose - affording a new way to use water every day. We have produced something simple and functional, yet poetic and original."
Appearing on the market in April 2011, and shown for the first time at the garden fair, in the Tuileries Garden (in central Paris), Laorus products have already won over notable distributors such as Le Cèdre Rouge, Jardin Chic, the CAMIF mail-order company, and Botanic Editions.
This first collection, in coated steel, comes in numerous colours. The items are all made in Northern France, a region that is well-known for its long tradition in metalworking.
Water fountains have always been part of our urban and rural landscape, in privately owned gardens as well as in spaces that are open to the public: the latter may include the patios of restaurants, hotel courtyards, and so on.
"Contemporary supply of this great classic was non-existent," points out Clare Chopitel, founder of the Laorus brand - a name she chose personally, which means 'laurel' in Latin. Further to this realisation, the young entrepreneur started off in her adventure with what amounted to a complete career change for her: she decided to train in project management and the design of industrial products.
Claire Chopitel wanted "a product which blends into nature, which integrates without dominating, which is both functional and attractive," she explains. She met designer Patrick Nadeau and both have worked together to bring the project forward and onto the market.
In 2011, Claire Chopitel set up Laorus in the Champagne-Ardennes region of Eastern France. She called upon designer Patrick Nadeau to come up with a range of original, coated-steel garden objects around the theme of water use. Claire Chopitel says, "It has been an adventure in exemplary complementarity between [the] business [side] and the designer."
Earlier in her career, Claire Chopitel was a project manager at telecommunications company France Telecom when she decided to launch her own business: for her, working with a renowned designer was a novel and challenging experience.
As she explains, "On the basis of a rather strict and precise schedule of conditions, [designer] Patrick Nadeau has shown how to interpret and invent a product adapted to its creative process. This collaboration represents the ideal outcome in terms of what one could hope for in such an exchange of views and expertise."
The Laorus fountains afford multiple uses, from washing hands, boots, or fruit and vegetables to showering and watering the garden - not to mention the scope for children's games. Several accessories complete the fountain: a basin set on a tripod stand or a small tub, which makes it possible to collect, recycle and save water. Additionally, the fountain comes with a backwash-cum-winder cleverly hiding the garden hose, and a small shelf for a plant pot or for hanging a garden tool.
Laorus offers a range of fountains, each one available in two sizes (1.00m or 1.20m in height). At the Maison & Objet trade show, in Paris, these models were on display, enhanced by ingenious accessories such as The Planted Fountain, a system of garden shower and shower stand.
▪The small-size fountain with a moveable basin and/or a garden-hose winding device is made of galvanised coated steel; it is available in 10 colours (selection on request). It stands at a height of 1.00 metre and the recommended retail price (RRP) is of €500.
▪The larger-size fountain has a basin, a movable tripod, and/or a garden-hose winding device; it is made of galvanised coated steel and is available in 10 colours (selection on request). It stands at a height of 1.20 metres and the RRP is from €700.
Laorus will release a new product in September 2013, which will feature a fountain-cum-outdoor-shower with a shower stand; it will be made in galvanised coated steel.
Laorus will showcase its innovative product range at the 100% Design trade show, to be held at the Earls Court exhibition centre, in central London (UK), from 18 to 21 September of this year. Laorus will be on the French Pavilion (Stand IP 220), or 100% France, which is being organised by the French Trade Commission UBIFRANCE in London.
About designer Patrick Nadeau
Patrick Nadeau studied product design as well as architecture; he lives and works in Paris. He began to intensely research contemporary design during a study trip that took him to Kyoto (Japan) in 1996. Patrick Nadeau founded his own design company in 1997, and it has given him the opportunity to work on projects combining architecture, design, garden design, and the plant environment.
With this unique approach, he has developed projects for customers such as Boffi, Hermès, Kenzo Parfums, Louis Vuitton, Festival des Jardins de Chaumont-sur-Loire (an annual exhibition focused on contemporary garden design), the Rennes city authority (in Brittany), and the Salines Royales d'Arc et Senans (i.e. the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, in Eastern France).
In September 2008, on the occasion of Nature Individuelle, his highly personal exhibition at the Sabz showroom in Paris, Patrick Nadeau stressed the interdisciplinary and open character of his work. The designs emphasized the fact that Patrick Nadeau focuses on balancing living organisms (i.e. plants) with inanimate things (be they natural or created by humans).
Patrick Nadeau is the founder and leader of the Végétal Design workshop at the Ecole Supérieure d'Art et de Design (ESAD), the school for art and design, in Reims (in the Champagne region of France). He teaches at Ecole Comondo (Les Arts Décoratifs), the private academy for design and interior design in Paris, and is a member of the Observatoire des Tendances du Jardin (which studies contemporary trends in garden design), which is itself supported by the Jardiland Institute.
About Laorus
Laorus is a company specialising in garden furniture and, more particularly, in outdoor fountains made of galvanized coated steel. Laorus was created by Claire Chopitel in 2011 and is headquartered in Revin, in the region of Champagne-Ardennes (Eastern France).
Laorus will attend the 100% Design trade show at the Earls Court exhibition centre, in London (UK), from 18 to 21 September 2013. Laorus will be on the French Pavilion (Stand IP 220), or 100% France, organised by the French Trade Commission UBIFRANCE in London.
For further information about the trade show, please go to: http://www.100percentdesign.co.uk/
For further information about the company, please go to: http://www.laorus.fr/
For further information, please contact :
Quote ref. : FTPB3869
Ms Kate RILEY - Press Officer
UBIFRANCE Press Office in London
Tel: +44 (0) 207 024 3640
KATE.RILEY ( @ ) ubifrance dot fr
View other press releases at :
http://www.ubifrance.com/uk/
###
space
space
Satisfied Users & 
Approved Press Releases
Print
Email
Report Spam