TRUE TO ITS Danish roots, Vola doesn’t
shout from the rooftops, even though its
iconic products have been seen – and imi-
tated – the world over. The company’s ‘HV1
tap is often copied but never matched’, says
Torben Madsen, head of design at Danish
firm Link Arkitektur. Madsen has been work-
ing with Vola’s in-house team since 2006 as
part of a continuation of the brand’s collabo-
rations with architects that stretches back to
its beginnings.
The first Vola taps and mixers were
designed in 1968 by none other than Arne
Jacobsen. At that time, the architect had been
commissioned for both the interior and the
exterior of the National Bank of Denmark.
Vola’s then owner, Verner Overgaard, reached
out to Jacobsen with a radical proposal:
together they could develop a wall-mounted
mixer not yet on the market – a design
whose mechanics are concealed, leaving only
the spout and handle visible. The concept
matched Jacobsen’s holistic approach to the
design of the bank, as well as his ambition to
neaten the chaotic 1960s bathroom aesthetic
driven by functional fittings. Although initially
developed for a specific project, the wall-
mounted mixer had such a universal appeal
that Vola continued to manufacture it as a
modular system. Handles, spouts, cover plates
and accessories can be combined in countless
configurations to satisfy a designer’s brief.
The sanitaryware brand celebrates its
50 th anniversary this year, and so does Jacobs-
en’s design. The product has remained largely
unchanged since its conception, but that
doesn’t mean Vola is resting on its laurels.
‘We’ve protected the original design while
still being able to improve all the mechani-
cal parts and processes involved. It’s about
increasing quality while remaining faithful to
the original,’ says Peder Nygaard, Vola’s COO,
‘and our initial modular-design system has
allowed for the continuous development of
new products.’
Vola’s pioneering pieces were based
on the golden ratio. ‘The handles of the HV1
and KV1 mixers are one-third the size of their
bodies,’ says Birthe Tofting, director of inter-
national sales, marketing and HR. ‘Proportion
is essential to the design of all Vola products.’
Everything is based on the circle and the cyl-
inder. ‘For built-in mixers, the size of the back
plate relates to the handle and the spout. We
won’t make a bigger back plate just because
a plumber wants to cover a large hole. That
would ruin the design.’
While Vola may have broadened its
scope beyond the mixer, new products are
based on the simple geometrics devised
together with Jacobsen. When creating the
T39 towel warmer, for instance, the design-
ers recognized the importance of keeping
all technical components out of sight. It was
Overgaard’s goal to tuck all pipes inside, leav-
ing visible only the elements necessary for
use. Madsen says that ‘we also did that with
the T39. There’s a lot behind the wall, but you
don’t see it. The towel warmer is also very
Vola, because it’s built on modularity. You can
decide how many rails you want and deter-
mine the distance between them.’
Never in a rush to present its latest
offering, Vola may spend years perfecting
a product. At the same time, the company’s
development team is constantly reworking
existing pieces by updating processes and
machinery. One example is the use of highly
effective techniques, such as laser-welding
for seamless joins. ‘We know that every Vola »Our initial “
modular-design
system has
allowed for
the continuous
development of
new products
Shown here is Jacobsen’s original drawing for
the 132 mixer, designed in 1968.A collaboration between Vola’s then owner, Verner
Overgaard, and Danish architect Arne Jacobsen (right) led
to the brand’s first taps and mixers, designed in 1968.
VOLA X FRAME 161