Interzum 2011 - Room meets lifestyle

(28/06/2011) Flexibility, mobility and versatility are the focal points of a new approach to space planning. At Interzum 2011 Häfele, the international creative workshop for hardware technology, showed its interpretation of this global trend in innovative room designs that reflect the changing needs of their users ... one could say dream rooms. Rooms with stunning functionality and vibrant energy, rooms that are constantly changing and virtually create on-demand interiors. Intelligent hardware technology and Häfele Engineering make it a reality and as a result fair visitors experienced first hand how a living room is transformed into a kitchen, a guest room into an office, how a dining table becomes a multi-purpose work surface, a coffee table reveals itself as a multi storage unit, a table turns into a bed and even how a small hotel room can suddenly offer the comfort and charm of a 5-star luxury hotel.

The trend toward open concept spaces eliminates walls and truly allows furniture and furnishings to become the highlight and centre of attention. This trend presents a unique challenge for the furniture industry and all its stakeholders, architects and designers as well as furniture manufacturers and hardware technology specialists. Häfele has accepted the challenge and is in the midst of re-evaluating its product range with this opportunity in mind. User comfort and customer processes are at the centre of our attention. The end results are creative contributions for modern room design with many moveable and multifunctional elements.

Häfele Functionality is becoming a brand that is synonymous with lively furniture, innovative furniture and furnishings and versatile room design. At the same time "Functionality" is hailed as an important term implying quality. Nowadays, almost everyone in the industry promotes it as an attribute of their brand.

At Interzum 2011, trendsetter Häfele took its commitment to the next level by including designers and architects with a focus on service, consulting and the new products from its partners in the furniture industry. Häfele wants to serve this new trend and is constantly creating and developing new furniture solution that combine high levels of function and design. It only makes sense that a supplier speaks the same language, sees the big picture of furniture production and has the same perspective of the end users as the furniture industry to incorporate into his research and development work.

The current living trend is dominated by the desire to eliminate the traditional barriers between bedrooms and bathrooms, work spaces, dining and living rooms. Each individual room may become larger but this usually leaves less space for storage.

Through the clever use of hardware applications and the creative use of surfaces, spaces, nooks and crannies Häfele provides elegant solutions for this apparent contradiction. Häfele provides surprising functionality for furniture – it becomes more versatile, mobile, turnable, slidable, rollable, height adjustable and, when it is not required, even invisible.

Hardware highlights for the furniture industry
Häfele Development Engineering chooses the market success Minifix to be its Interzum star. The Minifix 15/16 housing’s comprehensive redesign results in higher tightening power and stability thanks to new and very clever geometry in material removal. The matching hollow section bolt is made from steel; it preserves materials and money – a great match up for the economy and the environment.

Under the brand name Slido Häfele presented a new sliding door fitting from its own development and production. The Classic P VF 50 Vorfront fitting promises a high degree of user comfort for large and heavy panel doors. When connected to the electric drive E-Drive, the doors run automatically in both directions after just a small tap. The most effective soft-closing and guiding system for a third front sliding door is provided by the newly developed Smuso centre door soft-closing mechanism.

A brand new Engineering feat are hardware fittings that are covered with the antibacterial surface coating Alasept. They are deployed in sensitive areas such as clinics, retirement homes, medical practices, schools, kindergartens to add a layer of protection. They protect door handles, drawer handles, handrails and other surfaces from contamination with bacteria such as MSRA. Alasept is a major entry into the general discussion about hygiene.

The Häfele stand was a unique insight into the international competence and a pool of ideas for those that design, plan and build furniture. Inspiration for innovative and intelligent furniture is the promise from the hardware technology specialist. The energy new ideas generate is well known and particularly valuable because it tends to live on well past the excitement of the show floors has worn off. Back at the shop these ideas will be evaluated for their long-term value and ability to spawn economically viable products.