Setting new standards in form and function
What is design without solving a problem?
Tracing 21 years of Stormtech’s Linear Shower
Channel shows that design which tackles
both form and function can leave the biggest
impact of all.
Up until the launch of Stormtech’s Linear
Shower Channel in 1996, shower designs
had followed a tried and true formula with a
standard floor waste positioned in the middle
of a centrally sloping floor, with all the tiles cut
to fall inwards. Not only was it labour intensive
and as Stormtech’s CEO Troy Creighton says,
“limiting from a design perspective”, it also
created another problem. This “traditional way of
doing things” required a raised edge that limited
wheelchair accessibility. Needing an aesthetic
and functional drainage solution, two architects
approached the then small-scale business,
which led to the development of a product that
would change the face of bathroom designs.
One of those architects was Sydney’s Ed
Lippmann, founding director of LippmannAssociates. Sharing insights into the
Camperdown Terrace project from 1996,
Ed says: “The client was young and
experimental, and happy to use anything
that was out of the ordinary but practical.
The whole project was an innovative interior
and that formed part of the language of the
space.” Extending the overall design approach
to the bathroom design, Ed specified
Stormtech’s then newly developed Linear
Shower Channel. “It looked so aesthetically
superior than having a floor waste. We’ve
been using them ever since,” says Ed.
What may seem simple and straightforward,
belies the level of knowledge and skill that
went into the development of this now iconic
product. Originally created by Stormtech’s
founder John Creighton, Troy elaborates on
the process to get the Linear Shower Channel
designed and into the market. “This product
was the first of its kind, and it was the product
that changed our business.There was a lot of work that went in to
resolving the design to be fit for use as
there were no domestic shower channels
at the time, which also meant there were no
regulatory standards to work within. My father,
John Creighton, worked closely with the
Sydney water board to ensure that it would
meet building standards.”
Ultimately what Stormtech’s Linear Shower
Channel has done is hit the nail on the head
with solving not just a design problem, but a
functional problem. Design wise, it creates a
cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing outcome,
as Ed expresses: “It is much nicer to have
a single grate and make the floor fall in one
direction.” From the practical aspect, it creates
a seamless transition that enables a wheelchair
accessible shower. And more than 20 years
later, it was Stormtech that was called upon
to advise on the latest standards in disability
access in the building codes. What could be
more impactful than that?promotion featureStormtech.com.au /A&D x Stormtech/ jul-Sep 201984ADQ3_2019_Stormtech_ADV_FP_Final.indd 84 29/7/19 10:13 am