Patricia Urquiola Design Commission for Scholtès Centre of Excellence in Central London

LONDON, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The Forward-thinking Luxury Kitchen Brand Chooses one of the World's Most Influential Architects and Designers to Transform New Scholtès Kitchen Experience

With Photo 

The luxury kitchen appliance brand Scholtès, brings professional levels of cooking and state-of-the-art appliance design to UK kitchens this year. In doing so, Scholtès collaborates with one of the world's leading architects and designers, Spanish-born, Milan-based Patricia Urquiola, to create Scholtès Centre of Excellence. This inspired space will become a 'flagship venue' profiling the essence of Scholtès brand, whilst fusing the worlds of food, design, culture and luxury.  The ambitious, design-led project is due to open on London's prestigious Wigmore Street, W1 during London Design Festival week (17-24 September 2011) and confirms the brand's continued spirit of innovation, as it promotes its excellence in the UK.

Scholtès Centre of Excellence will be both surprising and stunning. Urquiola's design will ingeniously combine tradition, practicality and sophisticated technology, influenced by Scholtès brand values of Professionalism, Excellence and Timeless Design. An engaging space for demonstrations, masterclasses, private dinners along with a functional showroom, will be the result of her interpretation of the brief.

Bearing in mind the holistic approach Scholtès is taking to product design, customer selection and after care services, the space will be inviting and interactive, providing a relaxed and informative environment for customers to selects appropriate appliances during the research and selection process of buying a new kitchen.

At 300 square metres, the Centre of Excellence is set over two floors (street and basement levels), and arranged thematically into zones (reception, meeting room, and demonstration space) presenting the iconic and modular Scholtès appliances against a beautiful but functional backdrop. Urquiola has championed the use of iconic materials such as copper walls and bespoke, stone like textured floor tiles along with eco-features.  Mobile demonstration kitchen workstations can be moved into different configurations and allow the basement space to be used for theatre style demonstrations, intimate private dining or a standing reception function.

Commenting on the design Patricia says "the Centre of Excellence space immediately inspired a celebration of the 'primeval' because of its stark and industrial nature that provides the perfect setting for the sleek, precisely-constructed and highly-refined Scholtès brand essence and product collection to shine through. The modular arrangement of the product dimensions, (60cm x 60cm x 60cm) was the key to the design. When deconstructed the space is intense and chaotic, but when assembled or reordered it is a dynamic structure combining the old and the new."

With an established set of masterful and creative Michelin Starred Chefs already ambassadors for the brand and known as the Scholtès Elite Team, the Centre of Excellence will become a lively and theatrical hub with a buoyant programme of masterclasses that highlight the impeccable design and functionalty of Scholtès product collection. The UK's Michelin Starred Sat Bains leads with sessions on slow cooking and energy saving to foraging and regionality during the opening weeks. There will also be a calendar of tastings and workshops with luxury brand partners, as the Centre of Excellence will engage and enliven the interacting public henceforth.

As an official partner of The London Design Festival 2011, a limited number of spaces for these sessions will be reserved for VIP guests of the festival. "Success, prestige and innovation defines Scholtès", says David Bigland, Director, Scholtès UK. "It's a pleasure to be working with Urquiola. The way she has personified the very essence of Scholtès brand into this building is highly inspiring. We hope the space will engender performance and experience, as a domestic and professional kitchen would. We also hope it will encourage people to come through the doors and experience Scholtès first hand."

Scholtès Centre of Excellence opens in September 2011 and is located at 98 Wigmore Street, W1U 3RH. Scholtès product collection is available in specialist, independent retailers throughout the UK.

For more information visit http://www.scholtes.co.uk

About Scholtès

• The history of luxury kitchen appliances brand Scholtès, is one of visionary ambition and success, prestige and innovation, research and creativity - all accompanied by the passion that defines true professionalism.

• Established in Italy in 1922, Scholtès brings state-of-the-art kitchen design and professional level cooking to the home.  A rich heritage of extreme innovation has taken Scholtès on an experimental journey exploring lifestyle and design concepts that revolutionise the domestic kitchen space. Over the years Scholtès has built a strong reputation for technological innovation, professionalism and avant-garde design. As early as 1923 Scholtès made the first enamelled steel cooker and in the following decades it created the first series of built-in appliances in Europe.

• From the 1960s Scholtès has been at the forefront of high quality kitchen design and avant-garde technology, typified by craftsmanship.  With its 360-degree approach to design, finish and holistic customer service, Scholtès represents the leading choice for luxury bespoke kitchens renowned for spectacular performance, aesthetically and practically.

• From the 1960s to the 1970s, Scholtès succeeded in a number of significant "firsts":  In 1969 it launched the first pyrolytic self-cleaning oven, in 1974 the first glass-ceramic hob and in 1979 induction cooking. Over the following twenty years the company has continued its technological development programmes, launching a "touch control" hob with buttons in 1990 and the first "cold door" oven in 1993.  

• Today, with its team of chefs, engineers and designers, Scholtès continues to offer progressive solutions, patenting new technologies, such as those that can automatically regulate cooking parameters with extreme precision. One of the most important innovations is "Multiplo", launched in 2008 it is as a revolutionary cooking concept, offering five cooking methods in one appliance and is destined to utterly transform the world of cooking.

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.

Contact: Email: rosie@nevillemccarthy.com