World Architecture Festival 2019, sponsored by GROHE, fosters professional exchange within international architecture community
WAF 2019
At this year’s World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, founder sponsor GROHE celebrated another year of success, welcoming more than 1,000 visitors from the international architecture and design world to their booth.
“We are proud to be a part of some of this year’s nominees for the Building of the Year Award”, says Stefan Schmied, Vice President Global Projects Grohe AG. “Being able to contribute to some of the finest buildings around the world continues to be an inspiration and an honour. We are very happy to see those buildings get the professional acclaim they deserve.” One of the annual highlights of the festival is the announcement of the World Building of the Year 2019, which was this year awarded to LocHal Public Library in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The scheme was designed by Civic Architects (lead architect), Braaksma & Roos Architectenbureau and Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse.
Paul Flowers, GROHE and Maria Kuzma, winner of Water Research Prize
A platform for professional exchange
As founder sponsor of the festival, GROHE values WAF as a key opportunity to meet with the industry’s top specialists and, of course, potential partners and customers. As in years past, the 2019 festival proved that the event is the place to be when it comes to professional networking and exchange about innovations, trends, and future developments in architecture and the built environment. “As founding sponsor, GROHE is thrilled and immensely proud to see how WAF has developed over the years. What makes this festival so unique is the ability to engage in discussions with architects from all over the world and explore developing macro trends such as urbanisation, sustainability, health and wellbeing. We’d like to thank the architectural community for the positive feedback to the products we have shown at our booth. Many of our solutions have been created from the insights we’ve gathered in the previous years” says Paul Flowers, Chief Design Officer LIXIL.
Investing in the future of water
As one of the most sustainable brands of the sanitary sector, GROHE is dedicated to supporting research that explores the future of saving and preserving our water. As part of its efforts, GROHE has been donating money for the Water Research Prize which was awarded at WAF this year for the second time. This year, the research initiative “Recycle Build Brazil” convinced the jury including Paul Finch, Programme Director, WAF; Paul Flowers, Chief Design Officer LIXIL and Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands with their proposed sustainable architectural solutions for a school in the Brazilian Saõ José dos Campos area. By using recycled materials and implementing intelligent rainwater harvesting systems, the project not only improves the lives of the schoolchildren but also raises awareness of their interaction with water. Starting with the school building as a pilot project, there is also a longer-term proposal for the enhancement of 400 local low-income housing units.
The Water Research Prize is based on the WAF Manifesto. It describes the most important challenges for architects within the next ten years. Proper handling of water is a top priority, which is also a key commitment for GROHE.