Poggenpohl presents first Porsche Design kitchen

Herford/Stuttgart. Porsche Design Group and Poggenpohl Möbelwerke GmbH present their first co-designed kitchen P’7340. The kitchen is distinguished for its innovative framework, purist styling and high-quality materials. Kitchen appliances maker Miele & Cie. KG will be the exclusive supplier of all fitted electric appliances.

Back in October 2005, Porsche Design and Poggenpohl signed a co-operation agreement for the purpose. Says Roland Heiler, Managing Director of the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See: “Our studio already disposed of long-standing experience in designing kitchen and home appliances as well as furniture. In Poggenpohl we have found a partner capable of implementing our idea of what a modern kitchen should look like.”

With their new kitchen, both companies intend to live up to the trend that shows an increasing number of men displaying an interest in ‘kitchen and cuisine’. “In recent years, kitchens have turned into event and representation areas frequently equipped with audio systems”, explains Elmar Duffner, Managing Director of Poggenpohl. “Our co-operation with Porsche Design enabled us to design a kitchen whose sleek and functional design language specifically addresses male customers.”

The new kitchen will be on display as a show kitchen and sold in Poggenpohl studios around the world as of spring 2008. It will be available in the US as of summer 2008.

Aluminium profiles of different sizes, which permit individual styling, constitute the basic framework of the new kitchen. Within the aluminium frames, customers can position cabinet elements any way they like. The result is a modular, spacious and extremely versatile system of frames and carcasses that deliberately integrates clear spaces into the overall design concept.

The use of aluminium, a material typically used by Porsche Design, gives the kitchen an innovative and technical look as the material lends a high degree of originality to the surfaces of both the furniture carcasses and the frames. The frames come with integrated lights that directly and diffusely illuminate the worktop and the surroundings, respectively. Another material used is glass, which – painted unobtrusively on the backside and available in a satin or glossy finish – embellishes the front surfaces or fills the frames. Using aluminium and glass for yet another product, Porsche Design once again adheres to its philosophy of combining sleek design language with the finest materials.

The two wood varieties available for the front surface design produce an eye-catching contrast with these cool materials. Customers can choose between Driftwood, a heavily brushed type of pine that feels quite natural to the touch, and Dark Oak, a finely brushed type of dark oak. The unsealed, textured wood surfaces create a very natural and cosy atmosphere, enhancing the precision of the technical materials – glass and metal – even further. Thin worktops crafted from satin-finished glass or black granite convey an impression of elegance and lightness, which is rounded off by their alignment with the carcass.

A special highlight of the Poggenpohl Porsche Design kitchen is the fact that all cabinets can be opened without handles: Gently touched with a finger, pull-out elements and drawers will open magically thanks to built-in high-precision systems, while a light push suffices to make them all withdraw and, over the final centimetres, go back automatically into their original position. An innovative mechanism enables the graceful movement of doors and flaps: Gently touching the front face will activate a spacer pin that mechanically moves a door or a flap a few centimetres forward. The absence of handles further emphasises the uncompromising, purist and aesthetic appeal of the furniture pieces. However, for completeness’ sake and as an alternative to the handleless solution, functional grab bars crafted from brushed aluminium are also available.

In addition to multi-functional lighting systems harmoniously integrated into the sleek overall concept, the kitchen also boasts a high-tech audio-video system. The module has a purist appeal thanks to the aluminium-titanium coloured, anodised aluminium frame with its ultra-glossy surfaces of back-painted glass. The electronics of the built-in LCD module are installed behind glass to protect these delicate components against dirt and splashing water. The module itself does not require a ventilation system and features an innovative, extremely small sound system whose plug-and-play solution offers options for both analogue and digital connections.

As all electric appliances and pieces of furniture of the Poggenpohl Porsche Design kitchen form a unified whole, kitchen appliances maker Miele & Cie. KG will be the exclusive supplier of all appliances – from ovens to steam cookers to dishwashers. In design and styling, all appliances are made to match that of the materials used in the kitchen. The electric appliances are operated via sensor keys instead of buttons and feature userfriendly dialogue displays.

Porsche Design is a global luxury men’s brand and is determined by engineered products. Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche established the Porsche Design brand in 1972, whose products are attracting consumers with their technical innovation and represent functionality and timelessness in its purest form. Porsche Design products are sold in exclusive own retail and franchise stores, shop-in-shops, up-market department stores and exclusive specialist stores.

Being the oldest furniture brand in Germany, Poggenpohl owes its continuing sales success to its exports to over 60 countries with an export share of 70 per cent. Most kitchens are sold internationally in 450 studios and in exclusive specialist retail stores. As far as the kitchen furniture industry goes, ‘Made in Germany’ is an internationally coveted special sales argument.