Hansgrohe and Axor, the company’s designer brand, are springing into 2011 with an extraordinary winning streak under their collective belt. The company and its products received more than 52 international and national recognitions as either outstanding nominees or winners by several prestigious organizations. The awards honor Hansgrohe’s excellence in design, innovation and operation, cementing its reputation as an internationally respected manufacturer with a long-established track record.

“We always endeavor to introduce only the finest products to the market, and we would like to thank these esteemed institutions for the honors they have bestowed on us in 2010 and early 2011,” said Russ Wheeler, president of Hansgrohe North America. “We are most grateful for the recognition for our products as well as our company as a whole, and will continue striving for excellence now and into the future. Hansgrohe’s internationally sterling reputation is based on a solid historical tradition of innovation and aesthetics for over 100 years. We are delighted with this recognition by our peers in the industry.”

The national awards include:

The Georgia Chapter of ASID: Hansgrohe and Axor were recognized by their local industry partner, the Georgia Chapter of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), a prestigious regional resource for knowledge sharing, advocacy of interior designers right-to-practice, professional education and expansion of interior design markets. Each year, ASID Georgia presents awards for outstanding design projects in a number of categories. With only three product winners chosen, Hansgrohe and Axor dominated the category. The Axor Starck ShowerCollection was the gold medal winner, while Hansgrohe’s Raindance Rainfall was awarded the silver.

ADEX (Awards for Design Excellence): The brands won praise from ADEX, an influential awards program for excellent product design of furniture, fixtures and finishes. The ADEX Awards program, sponsored by ADEX’s magazine, Design Journal, recognizes the best product designs of the year in the expert opinion of those who are at the top of the field. In 2010, Hansgrohe’s Metris C won its prestigious platinum award.
An anonymous panel of professionals, representing a cross section of the design industry, conducts all voting for the ADEX Awards. This panel has chosen Axor Urquiola, Raindance E and Talis S and Talis C kitchen collections as nominees for next year’s awards.

The international awards include:

Silver Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany: Out of more than 1,500 submissions, the Axor Urquiola sink was one of only 25 products to receive the country’s highest design-related distinction for 2011. Part of Axor’s collection by renowned Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola, the sink is an homage to the traditional form of old fashioned washtubs.
This is not the first time the company has been recognized by the German government. The Silver Design Award 2010 went to Hansgrohe’s Raindance Connect Showerpipe with EcoRight technology, an outstanding innovative and water-saving shower system comprising an overhead and a hand shower. For the 2011 awards, Hansgrohe and Axor received 7 nominations; for 2010 they received 10 nominations.

red dot Award: red dot is an organization that “stands for belonging to the best in design and business.” Their prestigious design award is a distinction based on the principle of selection and presentation. Excellent design is selected by competent expert juries in the areas of product design, communication design, and design concepts. An internationally recognized symbol of quality, the red dot label was given to Hansgrohe’s Raindance Showerpipe 240 for best in product design, while the Axor Citterio sink faucet and showerhead received honorable mentions.

GOOD DESIGN: The company’s Raindance E line of showerheads, created in collaboration with its longtime partner Phoenix Design, was recently honored with the GOOD DESIGN Award by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. As one of the world’s oldest and most recognized programs for design excellence, GOOD DESIGN’s distinguished judges are all celebrated leaders in the international design industry. With a record number of entries from more than 36 nations, the winners were chosen for their innovative qualities and high-caliber design. The Raindance E showerheads will be featured on the museum’s website, www.chi-athenaeum.org, along with other award recipients.

Green GOOD DESIGN: Hansgrohe’s PuraVida Single-Hole faucet earned top honors as a Green GOOD DESIGN Award winner by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. With thousands of eco-friendly submissions from more than 46 countries, the PuraVida faucet was selected for this distinction by a panel of internationally respected design industry experts. Collaboratively conceived with Phoenix Design in Stuttgart, the PuraVida Single-Hole faucet offers a lower flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute.

International Forum (iF) Design Awards: One of the most prestigious international programs honoring excellence in design, the iF has again recognized Hansgrohe as one of the world’s preeminent companies, awarding it the number one spot in the plumbing category. In the iF Company Rankings (rank is based on the number of awards received in iF competitions over the years), Hansgrohe has moved up to the 12th place, a 13-place rise since last year.
The iF Design Award 2010 winners included Hansgrohe’s Raindance E 420 and Raindance 240 showerpipes, as well as the Focus E2 sink faucet. All were created in collaboration with Hansgrohe’s long-standing design partner, Phoenix Design. Entered into the competition among a total of 2,486 products from 39 countries, the innovations from Hansgrohe were rated by an international 25-member jury according to 11 evaluation criteria, including quality of design, finish, degree of innovation, environmental compatibility and functionality. In addition, Hansgrohe’s RainBrain, a new electronic shower control system, won the institution’s Communication Design Award 2010.
The 2011 iF Product Design Awards went to products from the Axor Bouroullec, Axor Citterio M, Raindance and PuraVida collections. Finally, the iF Design Award China 2010 awards were given to the Raindance E 420 showerpipe, the Focus E2 sink faucet, the PuraVida sink faucet and handshower, Rainbrain and numerous items from the Axor Urquiola collection-two among these received Gold recognition.

International Innovative Employer Award: The 2010 AARP International Innovative Employer Award was presented to Hansgrohe AG in Brussels in recognition of its MUMM project (“Miteinander und Motiviert mitmachen” - “Joining in and getting motivated”), through which the company demonstrated superior commitment to those in the over-50 age group. The International Innovative Employer Award is annually presented by the American Association of Retired Persons.

German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg Design Award: The German federal state of Baden-Württemberg gave its gold “Focus Open” award to Axor for the Axor Citterio single-handle faucet. The jury selected products for their pioneering and outstanding attributes. Only nine products out of 348 submissions received the honor.

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