MANY COMPARE THE COVID-19 CRISIS TO A BIG STORM THAT WE CANNOT SEE WHAT IS GOING ON. ART4D SAW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INVITE TEERAWAT THAMVARANONT, THE FOUNDER OF TRUSOL, TO TALK ABOUT THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF HIS THAI SANITARY WARE BRAND AS IT REACHES ITS TEN-YEAR MILESTONE
TEXT: NAPAT CHARITBUTRA
PHOTO: KETSIREE WONGWAN EXCEPT AS NOTED
(For Thai, press here)
Many compare the COVID-19 crisis to a big storm that stirs up the dust so devastatingly that we cannot see what is going on. At the end of 2020 when the storm appeared to have momentarily died down (before returning with its full force as 2021 began), art4d saw it as an opportunity to invite Teerawat Thamvaranont, the founder of TRUSOL, to talk about the past, present and future of his Thai sanitary ware brand as it reaches its ten-year milestone.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to learn a lot of new things. First of all is human’s forever longing for human touch,’ said Teerawat to art4d. This is the time when everything is heading towards the digital world, we need to take a step back and do some genuine self-exploration instead of desperately going after trends.
A bathtub is, in a way, a piece of furniture. What perhaps differentiates bathtubs from other types of furniture is the opportunity for consumers to buy a sofa or a chair online and assemble them at home by simply following instructions given in the manual. “I always ask every client to get into the tub. You have to be in it, lie down and let your body tell you what type of bathtub best suits you, or how deep you want your body to be inside a tub.” The next issue discussed in Teerawat’s conversation with us is the interaction between clients and salespeople. TRUSOL’s founder told art4d that almost one hundred percent of Thai people (or the general public) always have questions when they’re making a decision to buy a product no matter how much homework they have done on the product.
“Experiences people get from services or conversations they have really inspire both ends of the communication line. There are times when clients don’t know what they really want and by talking with a salesperson, they are able to see their needs become more visualised. It’s the same with TRUSOL because we are able to learn much more from the clients’ perspectives. From my point of view, I don’t believe that showrooms will lose their significance. Even in the thriving time of e-commerce, people are going to need that contact, simultaneous conversations and exchanges of opinions as well as the ability to touch and feel real products.”
One of TRUSOL’s showrooms is located right in Bangkok’s city centre, on the G floor of Bhiraj Tower at Sathorn Building, and merely 20 meters away from Surasak BTS Station. It is not that often to see a showroom selling bathtubs stand alone in the middle of the business district. The initial intention that the designer and Teerawat had for the design of the space was to make the showroom look like a factory. It was their deliberate attempt to create something that would bear a stark contrast to the building’s overall look. “It was supposed to look even more brutal. We were thinking of setting up scaffoldings and bringing in forklifts. There are certain parts of the space that are left as dark corners because we want the clients to feel like this place isn’t like any other showrooms they had visited. We want to really grasp their attention.” In other words, the showroom’s design is a primary approach to TRUSOL’s attempt to communicate with their clients about the brand’s tenet. “If they’re okay with the space, they will probably like our products and trajectory.” The industrial factory vibe is simplified into the form of steel shelves and the layout packed with products, keeping everything clearly displayed and accessible without any obstruction. Clients are able to touch, turn, lift or even casually lie down in bathtubs without feeling like they shouldn’t.
What’s interesting is after years of keeping the space as it is, Teerawat is planning for the redesign of the showroom to take place this year. The expansion is going to be done vertically with the entire ceiling to be opened in order to raise the showroom’s floor-to-ceiling height to over eight meters (reaching that industrial factory vibe he’s always hoped for). The second floor will be added with new programs included to make the space more than just a showroom. “If you’re asking whether we need to think more carefully about how the space can be used considering its strategic city-centre location, my answer is yes we do. We want this showroom to be a destination for a wider group of people. It won’t be the place where you come only to buy bathtubs or washbasins,” Teeraweat told art4d.
The additional program he talked about is the exhibition space, which will feature works of artists who are interested in putting together temporary exhibitions, as well as collections of bathtubs /washbasins that are collaborations between TRUSOL and Thai designers. The collections will be presented under a new installation approach, emphasizing their status as design objects. “Just like the product display, we will be playing with lighting design to create the space that is more dimensional and sophisticated.”
The delicate-looking yet streamlined form of a bathtub/washbasin is what all designers are after. It serves as a key piece of furniture that can really bring out a sense of style to a bathroom. TRUSOL’s design tenet is one of the greatest strengths that contributes to the brand’s achievement in the past ten years.
The recently released Freestanding Basin collection holds true to the TRUSOL spirit, from the use of synthetic stone that offers the perfect texture to the form and silhouette of some of the basins encapsulates the sexy features of the human body. While there are also certain models whose design embraces the Modernist aesthetic with simplistic geometric forms. The collection’s flexible installation allows the products to be installed on several types of steel stands, facilitating new conversations between two different materials.
Aside from the refurbishment of the showroom, Teerawat’s next step is to reposition the TRUSOL brand to become even stronger. The plan includes the making of the TRUSOL phonebook for the VIP clients (during the time when brands shy away from print media) with the intention for the publication to be a concrete rendition of the brand’s ten-year anniversary. Teerawat’s view is to create something that is more special than two-dimensional images on the screen; something with the design quality, graphic elements and technique along with the tactile paper effect. “The COVID-19 crisis has taught us a lot of things. It’s also an opportunity for us to initiate our fighting brand and play in a different and bigger market group. We want to emphasize TRUSOL’s extraordinary characteristics and expand our customer base to include the design-oriented consumers (they are currently in the process of planning the release of the products in the more affordable price range for the mid-end projects).
TRUSOL is now working with several mega projects in Thailand, including new hotel chains in foreign countries developed by leading hotel developers. In addition to the expansion of the brand’s products to reach more major projects in both Thailand and overseas, as well as clients from the residential development segment. The key to Teerawat’s business philosophy lies in the belief that “TRUSOL can be so much more than it is today. It’s the brand that has this sense of fashion in the spirit; a lifestyle that everyone has access to. But at the same time, our products portray this appreciation in the profound quality of art and they are developed to have this unique value and serve as artistic pieces in your bathroom.”