Design conversations · Battersea & Rugby
Behind the
beautiful detail.
An afternoon with AXOR, Jay Osgerby and the stories behind Archivio and AXOR One. What I brought back from Battersea—and why it matters when we design your bathroom.
Come along with me ↓I came back from London with that familiar feeling: a head full of ideas and an even greater appreciation for a product I already loved. Sometimes it takes a conversation with the designer to make you notice something all over again.
On 29 October, I joined AXOR at art’otel London Battersea Power Station for an afternoon and evening with the bathroom design community. The highlight was hearing Jay Osgerby talk about the thinking, collaboration and careful refinement behind the collections he creates with Edward Barber.
That is the part I love bringing back to our clients. The shape you see is only the beginning. There is a reason for the way a handle meets your hand, the way a control moves and the way a finish changes the character of the whole room.
An afternoon in London
A setting that keeps you looking.
Travelling down from Rugby gave me the chance to step outside the studio and look at design in a different setting. I stayed at art’otel, beside the Power Station, where there is plenty to catch a designer’s eye. The hotel sits within Foster + Partners’ Battersea Roof Gardens, part of the development’s third phase, with interiors by Jaime Hayon.1
Of course, a bathroom designer never quite switches off. I found myself noticing taps and fittings around the hotel, including in the gym. Spotting the AXOR and hansgrohe presence made the setting feel particularly appropriate for the day.
A heartfelt thank you to Jay Phillips, Erika Dodds and Julie McLean for the invitation, the welcome and the conversations. Erika’s attention to detail, from the flowers to the little finishing touches, made the occasion feel so thoughtfully put together. And thank you to Jay Osgerby for sharing the thinking behind his work so generously.
My conversation with Julie also touched on wellbeing and the way our surroundings can shape the experience of a day. It is a subject I keep returning to in our work: how a room feels to use, as well as how it looks.
A familiar name in a remarkable development
The confidence behind a specification.
Jay Phillips, hansgrohe’s Managing Director in the UK, shared his recollections of working on the projects side of the business and bringing AXOR into the Battersea development. What stayed with me was his account of the name’s resonance with the development team: a distinguished design brand becoming part of a much wider vision.
The original development consortium brought together Malaysian organisations S P Setia, Sime Darby Property and the Employees Provident Fund. The UK-based Battersea Power Station Development Company manages the development. And there is a tangible connection to the bathroom specification: the official brochure for Prospect Place, in Phase 3, names brushed-nickel Hansgrohe AXOR taps and mixers.2
For me, that conversation comes back to trust. Whether we are helping with a single tap, a private bathroom or a boutique hotel and spa brief, the product needs to earn its place through its design, suitability and the support behind it.
AXOR Archivio · Barber Osgerby
Seeing a familiar collection with fresh eyes.
I first saw Archivio in Milan and we already have a small display in our Rugby studio. Spending more time with it in Battersea, seeing the different finishes and hearing Jay explain the development process, gave it another layer.
Archivio is the work of Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the design partnership behind Barber Osgerby. It brings references to familiar, classical bathroom forms into a contemporary collection. The softened shapes and carefully judged proportions carry through basin, bath and shower fittings.3
I loved hearing about the degree of refinement involved—the tiny adjustments, even down to microns, that help an idea arrive at the intended shape and feel. It makes you appreciate how much discussion and testing can sit behind an apparently effortless outline.
A different finish can make the same design feel quite different. In our showroom, Brushed Black Chrome gives Archivio a quiet depth against the pale basin and patterned marble. In the Brushed Nickel Edit, I explore another way of bringing its curves into a coordinated bathroom.
Back in our Rugby studio
A small space with plenty to say.
Our compact basin furniture, AXOR Archivio tap and Ca’ Pietra arch mosaics bring pattern, texture and a dark metallic finish together. This is where those conversations become something you can see at close quarters.
Plan a visit to the studio →AXOR One · A favourite since the beginning
The pleasure of a simple click.
AXOR One has been a favourite of mine, and of our clients, since the original shower control with its distinctive paddles. The control arrived in 2015; the collection later expanded to include basin and bath fittings alongside the shower products.4
Jay’s discussion about hotel bathrooms particularly resonated with me. I remember his story about the frustration of trying to work out a shower when travelling with an early start ahead. When you are getting ready to cross a city, the last thing you want is a puzzle on the bathroom wall.
The click of a ballpoint pen became a wonderful way to explain the solution. In an earlier published interview, Jay described the designers’ interest in precise on/off control, their hesitation about an electronic interface, and AXOR’s development of a purely mechanical click mechanism. That tactile idea helped shape AXOR One.5
I appreciate that focus on an action that feels clear in the hand. A well-considered control can become familiar very quickly. For a hotel, where each guest arrives with different experience, that clarity is especially valuable.
AXOR One at The Hut
From the conversation to a real room.
At The Hut, at Conifer House, we used AXOR One in Brushed Black Chrome, including the basin fittings. I love the way the finish sits against the quiet grey surfaces and changes as daylight moves through the room.
These are the details I like to show a client closely: the profile of the spout, the relationship between the control and the basin, and the balance of the fittings within the room. The overall photograph gives you the atmosphere; looking closer helps explain the decisions.
Select a photograph to open the full view and look more closely.
What I brought home
A better conversation about your bathroom.
I left Battersea feeling inspired by the collections and by the care behind them. That knowledge helps us ask better questions together. How would you like the shower to feel? Which control feels natural to you? How will the finish sit with the stone, tile or timber you have chosen?
It also helps us work thoughtfully with your budget. We can discuss the details that matter most, check what works together and put the spending where it will make a meaningful difference to your project.
Whether you have chosen one product or are still imagining the whole room, you are welcome to pick up the phone and talk it through with us. These are the conversations I love.
Lisa
Lisa Melvin · Founder