DESIGN | Showroom style
Showroom of the month
CP Hart, Manchester
Colour was a major theme for CP Hart in its revamped Deansgate showroom in Manchester. Here they have tried to balance high-end luxury products with more affordable alternatives, as well as some home spa solutions
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P Hart is a renowned retailer in the South, but its only Northern showroom, on Deansgate in Manchester, has recently had a revamp and now looks like an explosion of colour. The proliferation of colour in the bathroom industry has meant that the cool greys of the previous couple of years are out and bold yellows, blues and greens are in. Emma Scott, principal designer of the Manchester showroom, was keen to show colour in a variety of ways, from ceramics to tiles and paint. She was determined to showcase that even if a customer doesn’t feel able to commit to a coloured ceramic, they can still add colour on the walls or tiles. The 4,000sq ft showroom had
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around a 70% refurb, and there are now approximately 40 displays, which are split over the two floors. The ground floor mainly has high-end lifestyle displays, while downstairs has products from Duravit and CP Hart’s own-brand products as well as the working displays and wellness centre. Despite CP Hart’s luxury image, the
showroom and its designers try to show that this can be for anyone. “We try to show that it is not unattainable,” says Scott. “A very luxurious product and design don’t need a big fanfare. We want to reassure our customers that this is not difficult for us to do.”
The most notable example of this is the home spa section, which shows homeowners that it is possible to fit a
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modern steam room or sauna in a house and that this is not a luxury reserved just for boutique hotels or spas. There is a balance of products to buy – a mix of affordable pieces, high-end designer Italian brands, and bespoke items such as the Ashton and Bentley coloured baths that can be ordered in any Farrow and Ball colour. “There are a lot of different styles and
trends in here, but when a customer comes in, there is a flow and a loop in the showroom, and you can see many products in one go,” says Scott. This means that customers can pull out specific trends and elements from displays to mix and match. Scott says: “We are lucky as the showroom is spacious. We try to keep it pared-back so when you move around, it is representative of the space people have in their bathroom.” The practical design of the showroom makes sure that similar products are grouped in the same area to make them simpler for clients to browse. There is also a working display area where people can try taps and showers, and the customer toilet is a Toto washlet, so that they can experience every aspect of modern technology. “We encourage our customers to try the
products out, because they have to live with their choices for a long time. We get people to sit in the baths, for example. On occasions, clients will be sat in the bath in the window giggling as people are walking past. We have floor-to-ceiling windows, so it’s also a bit of fun,” she says, laughing.
kbbr kbbreview · August 2019
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