AXOR x Maison Sarah Lavoine: The Perfect Balance of Inside and Outside
For more than 25 years, AXOR has partnered with world-renowned designers, working together to shape water-related spaces that express the unique personality of the user. In recent years, individualisation has emerged as one of the megatrends in interior design, as consumers seek out more personal expressions of luxury, style and well-being in their homes.
To help architects and interior designers better understand their clients’ personal evolving desires and develop distinctive and sustainable long-term solutions, AXOR has launched the DISTINCTIVE project. AXOR DISTINCTIVE is a unique exploration of individualisation in personal living spaces, that brings together the most important insights and perspectives on the topic of individual luxury.
Paris-based interior designer Sarah Poniatowski, founder of Maison Sarah Lavoine, has gained international recognition for interior design projects that delight with a surprising mix of styles, colours and materials.
This mixing is immediately apparent in the bathroom concept Poniatowski created as part of the AXOR Distinctive campaign, which dissolves the boundary between the indoors and the elements. Using natural materials such as raw pine and travertine for the interior, including the folding windows with wooden louvres. Teal tiles cover the shower and bath area, flowing through a teak-framed doorway and onto a shaded terrace structured with exposed pine beams.
Set beside the sea, the detached bathroom evokes an idyllic, even nostalgic, quality. The outdoor shower area offers a seamless continuation of the interior aesthetic, made even more effective with the inclusion of the AXOR Starck Nature Shower; an iconic design object that expresses the simple elegance and beauty of AXOR Starck.
Sarah Poniatowski explains: “I have a deep connection with the south-west region of France. It’s so authentic, and nature is everywhere. It’s the most relaxing place in the world for me. This is where the inspiration stems from. The goal was to emphasize the surroundings with an indoor-outdoor bathroom and create a relaxing space with a summer holiday feeling. The multiple entries and the full, open windows reflect the need to connect with nature and the surroundings. The room is as open as the mind of the individual [I designed it for].”
Poniatowski describes the bathroom as “a place where you can daydream yet relax, be creative yet stand still, enjoy the outside while being in your very own bubble. It’s all about balance. Hence the choice to play with contrasts.”
Nowhere are the bathroom’s contrasts more apparent than in the choice of colors. Pairing aubergine with emerald-blue, teal with pale pinks and yellows, the palette is intended to reflect a creative, dynamic spirit. The same principle extends to the choice of materials, which bring a strong sense of authenticity and balance well with the contemporary design of the mixer tap, created by Philippe Starck, the bath and the basin.
Finished here in the AXOR FinishPlus surface Brushed Bronze, the AXOR Starck collection adds a refined, minimalist edge to Poniatowski’s concept. Two AXOR Starck basin mixer taps set accents against the travertine wash basin, an effect repeated at the bath with a floor-standing AXOR Starck mixer tap. Featured both indoors and out, the slender AXOR Starck Shower Column follows the linear look of the long, exposed pine beams and contrasts with the idiosyncratic Zellige tiles.
Poniatowski adds: “The design of the AXOR Starck collection is very distinctive. It was important to create an environment which emphasized this, but didn’t overwhelm it, and vice versa.”
On the topic on individualization, Poniatowski links back to her own work. “To me, it is about designing projects that consider a person as a whole: their taste, their needs, their lifestyle. No one is the same, and this is what I love about my job — meeting people and creating something like nothing before.”
For more information: www.axor-design.com/int/inspiration/bathroom-concepts/sarah-poniatowski