A washbasin is more than just a functional element. It is a point of contact. An eye-catcher. The centre of a room that is used every day and yet is often underestimated.

When water meets enamelled lava stone, the result is a surface that not only supports but also shapes. Deep, shiny, lively. Pyrolave Suisse develops lava stone washbasins that do not complement architecture, but define it.

Customised design for bathroom architecture with high standards

Standard solutions follow grid dimensions. Lava stone follows ideas.

Whether an integrated basin with a gentle slope, monolithically moulded from the slab, or as an attached bowl with a clear edge. Whether a compact single washbasin or a spacious double unit for hotel projects. Formats are created on a project-specific basis and are technically validated.

Solid washbasin solutions made of enamelled lava stone can be realised in various thicknesses. Even large dimensions remain dimensionally stable, as lava stone has a high compressive strength and does not expand even with temperature changes. The surface is fused with enamel, making it water-resistant, acid-resistant and UV-stable.

This creates creative freedom that does not come at the expense of durability

Colour as an architectural tool

Lava stone can be enamelled in almost any desired colour. Whether it's a restrained blanc antique, deep black, mineral green or a precisely matched RAL or Pantone colour. Every order is unique in terms of colour and effect.

Colour becomes an atmospheric element, especially in the bathroom. A lava stone washbasin reflects light differently than ceramic or natural stone. The glaze creates depth. Fine surface textures are characteristic of the material and give every surface a lively appearance.

This individuality makes lava stone particularly interesting for boutique hotels, high-quality private bathrooms and special architectural solutions.

Technical precision in detail

In addition to its aesthetic effect, enamelled lava stone also has impressive technical properties.

The surface is resistant to cosmetics, cleaning agents and limescale. It is frost-resistant, heat-resistant and non-flammable. It is easy to clean with commercially available, non-abrasive cleaning agents.

Integrated slopes, milled drains or concealed drainage solutions can be realised directly in the material. Solid, sloped washbasin tops with an integrated stainless steel drain can also be realised.

Different material thicknesses can be used depending on the project. Large-format panels up to several metres in length are technically possible, depending on the thickness and construction. This creates continuous wash landscapes without compromising on design.

Sustainability and origin

The lava stone comes from the protected area of the Auvergne volcanoes. Extraction is strictly controlled and subject to extensive environmental regulations. After extraction, the material is shaped, enamelled and fired at high temperatures.

The result is a mineral material with natural origins and industrial precision.

Conclusion

A lava stone washbasin is not a standard solution. It is an architectural statement.

Form, colour and function merge into a unity that touches and remains. Pyrolave Suisse accompanies projects from the initial idea through to technical realisation and brings the material into those spaces where quality is allowed to be visible.

Spaces are not created by surfaces alone. But through attitude

When brands don't just sell, but tell stories, material plays a key role. And this is exactly where enamelled lava stone comes into play: as a stage, as a pedestal, as an elegant carrier of character. Whether in London, Lyon, Los Angeles or directly on St James Street - Pyrolave Suisse helps shape where excellence is required. Here, presentation becomes art - in showcase-like perfection.

Bernachon Lyon - Chocolate meets lava art

For generations, Maison Bernachon has stood for French chocolate culture at the highest level - and for interiors that live up to this claim. For the redesign of the boutiques in Paris and Lyon, architect Richard Bagur opted for a material with a history: lava stone.

What used to be a lava arch construction now features subtle accents - display cabinets, presentation tables, plinth elements. The colour? An almost taupe tone, somewhere between cocoa bean and gloss. Hand-picked, handcrafted - with exactly 30 elements that combine tradition and modernity.

Selfridges London - Denim and design

How do you put jeans on a pedestal that does justice to the material? At the legendary Selfridges department stores' on Oxford Street, the designers opted for a lava installation that speaks the language of denim: raw, honest, pure.

Six modules, enamelled in Ivoire with raw edges, form a graphically composed staircase structure for the presentation in the new jeans area. The structure is modular, robust and subtle at the same time - just like the material that supports it. Lava from Volvic - right in the centre of London.

John Lobb - Lava-based shoe design

Tradition meets precision: the shoe brand John Lobb is known worldwide for its Goodyear welted models - and for its uncompromisingly elegant retail design. Pyrolave Suisse provides the right spaces for this: in Paris, Los Angeles, Asia - wherever brand aesthetics become a philosophy.

Whether solid pedestals, gently shimmering washbasins or showcase-like displays - the colour "Ivoire" brings calm, clarity and value to the staging. In close collaboration with RDAI and the architecture firm Ciguë, presentation areas were created that embody exactly what the products promise: substance.

Conclusion

Pyrolave Suisse stands not only for architecture or interior design - but also for retail staging at the highest level. Whether chocolate, jewellery or shoes: where brands show attitude, lava stone brings substance.

Genuine craftsmanship for genuine brand worlds - that's what Pyrolave Suisse stands for.
And every piece tells a story.

There are projects in which lava stone is more than just a material. It becomes a message, a medium, a sculpture. Whether in public spaces, as a design object in galleries or as a highlight at architecture fairs - Pyrolave Suisse shows how versatile and artistic enamelled lava can be. In this autumn issue, we take a look at four extraordinary chapters - and a very special tribute to the craftsmanship behind them.

Les Brutalistes - Lava with attitude in Nantes

Between concrete, colour and ideas, art is created that lasts. A unique work was created in Nantes as part of the cultural initiative "Le Voyage à Nantes": Les Brutalistes - huge, playful sculptures made of concrete and enamelled lava, designed by the artist duo Feipel & Bechameil.

The idea: an interplay of raw brutalism and vibrant colour harmony. The realisation: a technical masterpiece. For the monumental figures, Pyrolave produced XXL panels with millimetre-precise angles, new colour experiments based on Pantone templates and a finish that will last for years, even in the open air.

More than art in public space - a meeting place with integrated wood-burning stoves designed to bring the neighbourhood together. Pyrolave Suisse as part of a social art project - powerful, poetic, colourful.

Similitudes - Design meets lava at Pierre Charpin

Less monumental, but no less impressive, are the works by French designer Pierre Charpin, which are currently on display at the Galerie Kreo in Paris. The "Similitudes" series - consisting of coffee tables and occasional furniture - combines enamelled lava stone with metal, form with repetition, structure with reflection.

Each table top becomes a surface full of depth. The colours? Contrasting, lively, vibrant. The shape? Geometrically reduced, but with a subtle shift. The lava? Elegant, with a crackled surface that shimmers in the light - like a skin of stone.

This turns a piece of furniture into a sculpture. And lava stone becomes a quiet stage for design at the highest level.

Architect@Work Paris - Lava in the spotlight

What happens when you rethink lava stone? You create walls, washbasins and presentation objects that surprise. At Architect@Work Paris 2020, Pyrolave Suisse presented a colourful concept for modern interior design: iridescent shades of green, a playful tie-dye look, solid origami washbasins and monolithic pedestals for the retail sector.

Particularly popular: the newly developed iridescent surfaces, which show different reflections depending on the incidence of light - an interplay of colour, depth and movement. A material that lives - and inspires. Visitors were delighted: lava is no longer just a kitchen surface. Lava is a canvas.

EPV certification - honouring genuine craftsmanship

A highlight in Pyrolave's history: the award of the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (EPV) label - an official seal of quality from the French government for outstanding craftsmanship and living tradition.

It is a tribute to the team in Castelsarrasin and Volvic, who work day in, day out between archaic material and state-of-the-art realisation. Between furnace and design process. Between hand and heart. And Pyrolave Suisse can also be proud - because these values, this expertise and this attitude have long since arrived in Switzerland.

Conclusion

Whether sculpture or side table, pedestal or wall, exhibition or museum - Pyrolave Suisse shows that lava stone knows no boundaries. It is not just a surface, but an expression. A medium for creatives, a tool for architects, a playground for designers.

And sometimes: simply art.

Whether it's a façade, hotel lobby or residential neighbourhood - architecture begins where walls do more than simply delimit space. Enamelled lava stone turns a surface into a statement, a wall into an experience. Three international projects impressively demonstrate how Pyrolave Suisse works with form, colour and history - and transforms architecture into expression.

Commonwealth House London - a monument with a lava face

In the centre of London, between Oxford Street and High Holborn, stands Commonwealth House - a building from the 1930s, half Art Deco, half modern. The architects at Orms wanted to do more than just preserve the building during the renovation: They wanted to fulfil a vision. Inspired by old plans by the original architect Henri Philip Cart De Lafontaine, they opted for a façade concept that was never realised - enamelled lavabriquettes in geometric shapes.

Pyrolave Suisse became part of this ambitious project - with over 2000 handmade elements in deep British Green. Six different shapes, including complex curved pieces for the rounded roof façades, were produced in less than nine months. The result: a modern interpretation of historical visions, mineral, lively and elegant. The colour? Monochrome - and yet full of depth. Changing from every perspective. A material with soul - and history.

Wonderland Sydney - Entrances in colour

Three lobbies, three colour spaces, one common element: Lavabriquettes by Pyrolave. The Wonderland Residences in the heart of Sydney are part of an urban masterplan with a showcase character. Designed by architecture firm FJMT, sustainability and durability take centre stage - as does design that stands out.

The entrance areas were designed with enamelled lavabriquettes in nine shades - each lobby with its own colour scheme: vibrant red, fresh green, sunny yellow. Complemented by inlays of glass, wood and aluminium, an organic mosaic is created that nestles around the curved walls. Thanks to precise workmanship, it was even possible to create a design with open joints - an architectural detail that only works with flawless quality.

Pyrolave Suisse supported the project with customised formats - including L-shaped special bricks for particularly elegant transitions.

Browning Mews - a puzzle of lava and London

A cobbled courtyard in Camden, London. Two duplex flats. Two small flats. And a façade that is more than cladding - it is composition. In the redesign of Browning Mews by architecture firm Urban Mesh, British restraint met French lava - a harmonious meeting of tradition and modernity.

The outer shell? An interplay of classic bricks and enamelled lava stones - framed, offset, accentuated. Some elements frame windows, others form rows of listels or rhythmically break up the surfaces. The highlight: individually developed colour variations to match the concept. Each component was planned on the basis of hand-drawn sketches, manufactured and assembled on site like a jigsaw puzzle.

This is how a charming retreat became a modern design icon - discreet, full of character, authentic.

Conclusion

These three projects show how Pyrolave Suisse is reinterpreting classic natural stone: as a façade material, design element and design tool. Whether on 250 square metres in a listed high-rise building or as a handcrafted accent in a side street - lava stone is versatile, durable and expressive.

If you want to create spaces that are more than just surfaces, choose materials with history, precision and feeling.
Pyrolave Suisse brings exactly that - to the point. And on the wall.

What connects a superlative patisserie, a Victorian monument and a Nikkei restaurant in the heart of Soho? The answer lies in a material that has endured for centuries - and is now making design history: Lava stone from Pyrolave. Whether as a stage for award-winning pâtisserie art, as the backbone of a co-working space or as a sculptural experience area in gastronomy - Pyrolave Suisse brings the power of French volcanoes directly into the centres of European metropolises. Three projects. Three worlds. One element.

Le Meurice Paris - Haute Pâtisserie with a lava base

When Cédric Grolet, probably France's most famous pâtissier, stages his iconic fruit sculptures, it takes more than just a display - it takes a stage. In his first own boutique in the centre of Paris, he opted for the unusual: an enamelled lava stone counter from Pyrolave.

Designed by the renowned architecture firm Ciguë, the space has a minimalist and pure look - and is therefore powerful. The over six metre long counter made of "Blanc Antique" lava runs through the restaurant like a sculpture. The surface? Food-safe, non-porous, resistant. The effect? Timeless, cool, elegant - and yet warm thanks to the mineral depth of the material. Every angle reveals a new pattern, formed by the natural structure of the lava and the fine tressaillage of the enamel.

China Works London - the past meets the future of design

Built in Victorian London, the building once served the Royal Doulton Pottery Company - today it is a coworking hub for the capital's creative elite. And in the centre of it all: a bar area that is as sophisticated as it is bold. The design agencies Frost and Bluebottle breathed new life into the listed building - with a central element made of lava stone: the bar in "Emeraude" green by Pyrolave.

Every detail of this project was a technical challenge. Horizontally and vertically enamelled surfaces, precisely colour-coordinated. Ornamental mouldings, made from solid Volvic lava blocks, which were worked by hand and milled into artistic profiles. The result: a place that not only breathes history, but also reinterprets it - with material that has substance and fits into any digital age.

Chotto Matte - fusion food meets volcanic power

Soho, London: loud, flashy, culinary. Chotto Matte is the centre of Nikkei cuisine - an explosive fusion of Japanese and Peruvian flavours. But the restaurant also sets new architectural standards. The entrance area? A sculptural lava cave. The counters? Massive Volvic blocks - seemingly raw, actually technically sophisticated.

French artist Thierry Courtadon transformed the rough blocks into design objects. Some were hollowed out, given glazed surfaces and reassembled. The result was an aesthetic between nature and perfection, between chaos and control - typical Pyrolave. Complemented by convex and concave shapes, raw originality merges with sophisticated technology.

Conclusion

Whether pâtisserie, coworking or catering: projects like these show what is possible when craftsmanship, natural materials and design come together without compromise. This is exactly what Pyrolave Suisse stands for - consulting, sampling and realisation of sophisticated projects in Switzerland. It's not just about lava stone. It's about character, depth and duration.

If you want to create architecture that works - and lasts - you need more than just a surface.
He decides in favour of Pyrolave Suisse.