It started as a source of irritation in the bathroom. It has since required three years’ work, two German engineers and USD 1 million in development costs. Friday the children’s bath tub “The Flexi Bath” won the Formland Design Award – Spring 2009.
– For me it was an issue that our baby bath tub took up too much space – in what was a small bathroom too. So I started thinking that perhaps it could be folded to make it easy to store. After three years we now have the end result – and even a design award in our hands, says Designer Niels Peter Estrup, A Real Cool World, who continues:
– It has been essential for us that the product is environmentally sound, sustainable and produced locally under the right conditions. The cost of producing the bath tub was the same regardless of whether production took place in Denmark or in China so the natural choice was a Danish factory.
Great interest in Asia
The factory in North Jutland that produces the Flexi Bath, can produce 700,000 bath tubs annually. The children’s bath tub is particularly suitable for everyone who lives in small apartments with even smaller bathrooms. Already now, the signs are that the product could be an international sales success.
– We are experiencing a large amount of interest from Asia; especially from Japan, where the children’s bath tub is very much in demand. The Asian product launch takes place in April. Then the markets in Norway and Finland will follow and then the rest of Europe, says Niels Peter Estrup, A Real Cool World.
Heat sensitive drain plug
Initially however, the Danes will be the first to benefit from the children’s bath tub. The Flexi Bath will be commercially available from the beginning of March and is sold by the Copenhagen-based company Play for Life ApS. Here, expectations are high after winning the Formland Design Award:
– The Formland Design Award provides us good support for the launch of The Flexi Bath in Denmark, where our target is to sell 10,000 examples during the first year, says Stinne Fruelund, owner of Play for Life ApS.
The Formland Design Award was presented at the opening of Formland Spring 2009. The award includes a marketing contribution of DKK 100,000. The Flexi Bath is introduced in seven different colours. Besides being foldable in the middle, the children’s bath tub comes with a heat sensitive drain plug that changes colour when the water temperature exceeds 36 degrees. The recommended retail price for the Flexi Bath is DKK 269.00.
