Mid century Danish design boasts exemplars of modern design ingenuity in plenty; Vola is one of them. Perfunctory details — its Danish origins and c.1960s inception — aside, it is Vola’s modular design offering that brands the tapware designer/manufacturer with the perennial potential of modernist ingenuity.
Ingenius in its timelessness, simplicity and air of exclusivity, Vola’s core proposition comprises two parts. Firstly, behind every Vola product — of which there are currently 111 — is a comprehensive modular design system, enabling customisation to the nth degree. Secondly, in keeping with such customisable configuration, all Vola products are hand-crafted, using processes that have been honed over decades, and made-to-order at the Vola factory in Horsens, Denmark. These two quintessentials of the Vola product offering have been installed from the get-go, some fifty-odd years ago, as per the intent of Verner Overgaard, founder of Vola, and Arne Jacobsen, the preeminent Danish designer of the time.
Initiated by way of design concept commission — Overgaard as the client and Jacobsen as the designer — the founding fathers of Vola set out to create a new type of wall-mounted mixer; one in which the mechanics were neatly hidden away, leaving only the spout and handle to be seen. Bringing his functionalist design approach to the table, Jacobsen developed this inaugural concept into the classic, concise design Vola is known and coveted for today. These “design classics are the proof of lasting values of good design,” says Carsten Overgaard, the brand’s current managing director.
The extensive family of mixers, handles, plates and spouts belonging to Vola today is a prime example of a truly modular approach to design. With each of its 111 products available in an array of finishes, including unique metallics and colours, Vola offers designers and specifiers perennial potential and unlimited creative scope, while working with products of lasting values and tried and true design. This flexibility leads to great longevity, with products that were used in schemes in the 1960s still being specified today.
Such commitment to simple, beautiful and modular design is the foundation of Vola’s success to date and will also pave the way for an innovative future, as people increasingly seek out quality and personalisation. The next 50 years look very exciting indeed.
Discover Vola’s perennial potential for yourself with this user-friendly online configurator tool.
