Page 14 - Trends by DELABIE

/// WHAT'S HOT / Kortrijk — Belgium Kortrijk — Belgium / WHAT'S HOT ///

Please

HAVE A SEAT

VAN MARCKE
COURTRAI (BELGIUM)
WIM VAN HEEKE
INTERIOR DESIGNER WIM.TERIOR

WONDER WONDERFUL
It was in Kortrijk, a UNESCO Cultural City
of Design, that the Wonder Creativity Festival took
14 place. Since our physical social lives were wiped 15
nd
out during Covid, the theme for the 2 edition
was meeting up again. “Please have a seat” was
the festival mantra. A concept taken at face value You worked on this project together with the Van Marcke Group.
What did each of you bring to it? How did you share out the
– albeit daringly – in the washrooms.
roles?
For better or for worse, public washrooms are an
Wim Van Heeke: Van Marcke asked me to design a brand-
integral part of any festival; and when they are
new interior concept with all the necessary options for a total
supposed to be inspirational and arty, the challenge
experience inside a mobile washroom unit. The themes to
is huge. Van Marcke, washroom fitter and owner
consider were: "STAY PURE" & "FEEL NATURAL". In the end,
of the former industrial site where the festival took
I totally reinvented the concept.
place, decided to tackle this thorny subject. And
In a public place burdened with regulatory requirements,
to do so, designer Wim Van Heeke was invited on
sanitation is a massive challenge. What was your approach
board.
regarding the washroom units for the Wonder Creativity
Festival?
Containers full of character were created, to contain
comfortable, non-gendered design-oriented toilets,
W. V. H.: To meet the interior layout demands, I made the notion
along with artistic installations. High-quality materials
of creating a brand-new experience for the visitor my own. In
and color combinations thus rubbed shoulders with
that respect, I decided to choose ecological products for the
scented-air dispensers and background music. The
fittings and furnishings, like the tiling, lighting and sanitary
whole thing dotted with neon lights to produce a
equipment. I opted for products that made savings on both water
brand-new nocturnal experience for festival-goers.
and energy, without sacrificing comfort. Moreover, I created
Enough to encourage them to enthusiastically accept
an extra dimension with automatic scented-air dispensers and
the invitation to "take a seat".
background music. Users even had the possibility of charging
their cell phones. And all this in an oasis of soothing colors. And
users were incredibly enthusiastic about the result.
DELABIE products installed: Wim Van Heeke, designer for the Wim.terior studio
DUPLO stainless steel multiple washbasin (Ref. 121390)
BLACK BINOPTIC electronic basin tap (Ref. 378035)
FINO design-led stainless steel urinal (Ref. 135710)
TEMPOMATIC 4 electronic urinal valve (Refs. 430006 + 430PBOX + 757430)
S21 S wall-hung stainless steel WC pan with slimline toilet seat lid (Refs. 110310 + 102819)