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With more than 130 years of expertise in perfecting bathroom essentials, it’s no surprise that Laufen has a few impressive innovations in store for us this year. After four years of development, it has created a CO2-free 100m industrial tunnel kiln, powered by solar and green electricity to produce ceramic sanitaryware. It's a world first and it highlights the company's continued commitment to sustainability. Streamlining the production process, kilns continuously fire products as they move through the tunnel, so pieces do not need to be loaded and unloaded as with batch kilns.
This cutting-edge technology allows Laufen to produce ceramic sanitaryware more efficiently while significantly reducing its environmental footprint. It has also resulted in the launch of ‘Volta’, a sink imagined by Swiss designer Yves Béhar and on display during Milan Design Week 2025. ‘My inspiration for “Volta” comes from water, the element that [has] played an important role throughout my life,’ he says. ‘I wanted the motion of water to be part of the experience, so the water moves in a circular motion like a river.’
The ‘Volta’ basin marks Yves Béhar’s first foray into bathroom design
‘Volta’ by Yves Béhar for Laufen
Crafted using Laufen’s innovative SaphirKeramik, an ultra-thin, high-performance ceramic material, ‘Volta’ features a complex interior and exterior profile that doesn’t increase the overall size of the basin. Its unique design is a harmonious blend of form and function, making it a standout piece that could become a true icon in bathroom design.
Although Béhar is well known within the tech design world for his collaboration with Samsung on the Frame TV, launched in 2017, this is his first foray into bathroom design. ‘Yves’ approach was fresh and resulted in an unconventional concept for the bathroom,’ says Marc Viardot, marketing and design director of Roca Group, Laufen’s parent company. ‘It feels like we reinvented the wheel, or at least reimagined how we engage with water in our daily lives.’
‘Volta’ by Yves Béhar for Laufen
Volta’s design contrasts the simplicity of the outer form with the functional, yet unconventional, shape of the sink’s interior. ‘In addition to creating an aesthetic of movement with the swirling water that cleans the basin perfectly, it also allows water to pool at the bottom. This makes it ideal for activities like shaving or washing your face without filling the entire sink,’ Béhar adds.
‘I wanted “Volta” to express Laufen’s incredible sustainability commitment, embodied in the world’s first industrial electric kiln that produces CO2-free ceramics.’