Surprising surfaces enable success for Arks Designers

By expanding its home surfaces portfolio to include a new range of alternative materials from traditional stone and glass, a London-based bespoke design company has seen a 25% increase in projects requesting these solutions within a year.

15.07.2020

By expanding its home surfaces portfolio to include a new range of alternative materials from traditional stone and glass, a London-based bespoke design company has seen a 25% increase in projects requesting these solutions within a year.

Based in Wraysbury, a village in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, England, Arks Designers (Arks) is a home improvement company operating in an affluent area that specialises in premium projects from conception to completion.

Founded by Rajesh Sehra and Vineeta Sehra over 12 years ago, Arks creates projects that focus on the wellbeing of clients through timeless designs. Its team of designers and craftsmen pride themselves on designing, creating and installing beautiful fitted furniture. Because of this, the company has earned a reputation for its dedication to innovative use of ergonomics and space. With the majority of its leads coming from recommendations, upholding exceptionally high standards is imperative to the business.

The Inspiration Challenge

In the current climate, staying competitive is difficult for any company and Rajesh had found in recent years that inspiring customers was becoming more and more challenging.

He says: “Consumers are generally savvier these days. Due to platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest, home and lifestyle inspiration is being propelled in front of homeowners multiple times in a day, which makes it harder to excite them.”

Keen to continually introduce new products that inspire customers and add the so-called ‘wow factor’, the team at Arks regularly attends industry shows to discover the latest innovations. This is how Rajesh initially met REHAU and learned more about its RAUVISIO crystal décor range, a high-performance acrylic which can also be used as a glass alternative, available in a selection of plain and exclusive stone finishes. It is marketed on its many comparable features to traditional materials, but without any of the disadvantages associated with processing them.

Rajesh says: “I’d come to realise that when it came to surface solutions, many suppliers were just offering the same thing. There are only so many things you can do with the same board, so when I came across RAUVISIO Crystal and RAUVISIO Crystal Décor range, I knew I’d found something different.”

Arks Brilliant and Legno Brucciatto - 114864

Selling the ‘element of surprise’

REHAU went on to develop a portfolio of sample boards for Arks’ Showroom which the team were able to show to prospective clients. This led to a project for a large kitchen in a high-gloss all-matte finish complemented by a central island in the crystal décor. By actively promoting this project as a case study, the business started to see an increase in requests for the same finish.

Rajesh continues: “I didn’t know that much about REHAU at first, other than that they provide edge-banding solutions. However, once I got to know them, I discovered there were so many more exciting products I could introduce. My customers want kitchens and bedrooms they can show off to their families and friends, and offer that element of surprise to get people talking. RAUVISIO Crystal is a product that can do that – it has all the aesthetically pleasing attributes of traditional, expensive materials but without any of the downsides relating to maintenance and breakability.”

The value of comprehensive testing

Due to the high-value nature of Ark’s developments, it is also important that the company can demonstrate the technical superiority of products installed. By being able to tell customers that RAUVISIO is comprehensively tested to AMK and TÜV standards – two German accreditations recognised Europe-wide as the highest of engineering standards for the KBB industry – shows that the products will last the long haul.

To achieve such standards, the surfaces are held over boiling water for extended periods of time, allowing steam to infiltrate the joints. REHAU’s RAUVISIO range showed no signs of discolouring or damage under such stringent testing conditions, demonstrating its quality.

Find out more about REHAU surfaces

A competitive edge

Until recently REHAU was limited to servicing larger enterprises and joint ventures from its furniture division. However, in a move towards servicing those like Arks, who are making more bespoke and independent furniture solutions, the polymer company has redefined its offering for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in order to provide them with a more diverse yet stylish product range.

Since initially meeting REHAU at the show two years ago, Arks has seen a 25% increase in RAUVISIO projects within a year, due to its competitive edge. Scott Williams, National Sales Manager for Furniture Solutions at REHAU, is leading the charge on redefining its offer by transforming operations to service SMEs.

He says: “We’re proud to have our products being represented by Arks Designers. They have a team of exceptionally skilled designers and we know they will uphold our exceptionally high-quality standards.
“Being able to supply SMEs is a big change for us. We see it as a positive step towards bringing more individual and high-quality solutions to personal spaces throughout homes and commercial spaces, while offering our customers a real competitive edge.”