Duravit launched Cassia at ISH 2011, a flexible new series of built-in ceramic kitchen sinks. Designed by award-winning Phoenix Design, Cassia is Duravit's second kitchen collection, following its popular Starck K models designed by Philippe Starck. Cassia sinks are all crafted in DuraCeram, Duravit's proprietary ceramic recognized for its high impact resistance and optimum robustness for tough kitchen use. The collection is available in three reversible sizes and five colors and was designed for comfort, ease of cleaning and value for money.
"After the success of our Starck K sinks, we knew that there was a real need for more Duravit ceramic solutions for the kitchen," noted Tim Schroeder, president of Duravit USA. "Our kitchen sinks are unlike any others on the market because of their performance and aesthetic qualities. We will continue to focus on this critical focal area of the home."
Phoenix Design incorporated the brilliance of ceramic into Cassia's design to create forms that are both sculptural and soft. Key features are a fine, all-round profile; a flat, flowing form; and a spacious surface area. Grooves have been removed from the draining board, so that it may also be used to comfortably prepare and cut food. Thanks to a gentle incline, depending on the size, water flows into either the drain or the sink.
For Phoenix Design it all started with a focus on ceramics, "We wanted to enhance the value of the sink and establish a link with crockery or similar high-quality kitchen accessories that feel pleasant to pick up and put on the table. We found working with ceramics fascinating. It's possible to create shapes that seem to have been modelled by hand. At the same time, ceramic designs also exude a certain clarity and precision without appearing engineered."
Cassia's rectangular shape creates a comfortable bowl size so that larger pans or baking sheets can be cleaned with ease. The gentle, all-round rim raises the height of the edge and protects against splash water during dish washing. To ensure that the sink can be filled to its limit, models with one and a half and two bowls have a narrow, somewhat lower strip in the side of the bowl instead of an overflow, allowing the water to flow elegantly into the adjacent bowl.
Whether fitted as a right- or left-handed bowl, Cassia's axial layout of the tap, overflow and pop-up waste control, make all of the sinks reversible. The small size even fits on relatively narrow vanity unit with a width of just 19 5/8". The medium-sized sink has both a large bowl and a small drainer and fits on a 23 5/8" wide vanity unit. With two bowls, the large sink fits on a 31½" wide vanity unit. The overflow of this size sits in the center of a 4" wide strip. Thanks to this design, small amounts of liquid, such as sauce leftovers, can be hygienically poured away while using both bowls simultaneously.
When it comes to storage space in the kitchen, all three sizes have one thing in common: with a standard 1 1/5" thick worktop, it's even possible to fit a dishwasher under the draining board, which ensures maximum use of all available space.