On Barcelona’s elegant boulevard, Avenida Diagonal, nestling among its swanky boutiques and showrooms and – more precisely – in a spot between the intersections of Paseo de Gracia and the Rambla Catalunya, Spanish bathroom company Cosmic has opened a new 300 sq m space to display its various ranges.
The showroom’s prime aim is to become the firm’s best showcase for its wares, a place where shoppers can experience and enjoy the products at first hand. Basins, baths, showers, furniture, taps and accessories – all are displayed against a neutral backdrop in an environment intended to communicate and make crystal clear to visitors the brand’s philosophy and the concept behind all its designs.
The work of architect Alejandro Armenter, the premises’ interiors were stripped back to their original structure, revealing the unadorned simplicity typical of the majority of buildings which were part of the city’s expansion in the early 20th-century – particularly in Barcelona’s Eixample area. The removal of superfluous elements means that the building’s original materials – stone, steel and brick – are now fully visible.
Visitors walk along a platform made of warm-looking oak through a succession of different, carefully lit environments, all with a plain black background designed to make the products truly stand out. At the end of this trajectory, and next to a small courtyard, is the studio itself. Here visitors from the interior design trade as well as ordinary punters can get personal advice and whatever information they need.
Cosmic established itself in the 80s as a maker of homeware, later becoming one of Europe’s most dynamic players in the world of cutting-edge contemporary bathroom design.
The company’s wholehearted dedication to the high standards of its design has earnt it several prestigious prizes, such as the Design Plus 2207 prize for its furniture collection Block and the Delta de Plata 2007 gong for its Simplex collection, designed by Martín de Azúa and Gerard Moliné.
Since 2008, Cosmic has formed a strong alliance with the company Roca – a strategy designed to make the two firms Europe’s leading manufacturers in high-end bathroom accessories and sanitaryware. Cosmic currently exports 50 per cent of its goods.
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