For more than 75 years, Symmons Industries has offered architects, designers and property owners beautifully designed plumbing products for commercial and residential applications. Today, the brand still rolls out products that are built to last, designed to stand out and backed by a customer-first culture, while going a step further with the Symmons Design Studio™, a service for creating custom fittings for commercial projects.
The Algonquin Hotel
Designed in 1902 by architect Goldwin Starrett, the legendary Algonquin Hotel is a venerable beaux arts gem that started out as a New York City residence hotel. Over the years, it’s been a magnet for literary and theatrical guests and known also as a social sanctuary. But to meet the current needs of its guests and the city, it needed considerable renovation that would bring it up to 21st-century standards. Maintaining the structure’s integrity and historical charm were the guiding principles for this rebirth.
The Algonquin Hotel
The challenges here were not unlike many New York City hotels built more than a century ago. Chief among them was that the Algonquin featured relatively small bathrooms with very low water pressure. In addition, new products for the renovation had to be designed to fit the scale of the space. Bath fittings had to be manufactured to accommodate low water pressure and provide a comfortable bathing experience.
By using Symmons Design Studio™, the property gained new shower trims in an oval shape to appear smaller when installed. New showerheads were manufactured with pressure-compensating flow controls and specially engineered nozzles to provide a better shower experience despite the lower flow rates. Then, lavatory faucets were fitted with pressure-compensating aerators to accommodate low water pressures. And base concepts for bath fittings were selected from a gallery of previously designed products and modified with a “step” detail to add visual interest that would complement the historic décor.
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Symmons Design Studio’s in-depth design process allowed for the creation of size-appropriate shower trim and faucets for the space, and one-on-one interaction with the Symmons team guaranteed that products manufactured to accommodate the property’s unique operational requirements would meet expectations of hotel guests.
Custom design solutions aside, Symmons’ high-volume quality manufacturing and personalized attention for individual clients make the brand perfectly suited to multiunit residential projects, as well.
UCLA
Every year, more than 42,000 undergraduate students attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where freshman are guaranteed two years of university housing. About 90 percent of them live in university-operated facilities, ranging from traditional coed residence halls to apartment-like suites. To address this huge demand for housing, UCLA recently initiated several renovation and construction projects across the campus, some of which will continue for years to come.
UCLA Student Housing
Here, the challenges were significant. UCLA’s Housing Services Department sought a partner that could provide low-maintenance and extremely durable products for a large number of student residences. The design called for an updated look, with the installation of contemporary products for the kitchens and bathrooms. And the products selected for the refurbished units needed to be ADA compliant to meet multifamily building codes.
UCLA Student Housing
As a result, the Symmons contemporary Sereno® Kitchen faucet in Stainless Steel Radiance® PVD was selected for installation in student housing with kitchen layouts. Symmons Dia® shower systems and lavatory faucets in Satin Nickel Radiance® PVD were selected for all residence bathrooms. Coordinating Sereno® accessories in Satin Nickel Radiance PVD completed the updated look of the student housing bathrooms. Symmons ADA-compliant grab bars, hand showers and shower seats were paired with Dia premium products to provide a similar modern style for ADA-specified units. And all Symmons products selected for this project are certified and in compliance with the California state regulations regarding low-lead products.
UCLA Student Housing
This partnership has worked well for both client and supplier. Symmons has become a solid partner for the UCLA Housing Services Department in the renovation of the current and future student residence facilities. And Symmons now provides kitchen and bath products for the many building layouts across the UCLA campus as well as products for public restrooms in the general areas.
These are just two examples of projects needing different solutions yet both made easy by working with Symmons Industries. To learn more, visit Symmons.com.
