{"id":68921,"date":"2026-08-24T10:16:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/68921\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T10:16:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:16:02","slug":"thg-paris-the-mastery-of-bespoke-brassware-hotel-designs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/68921\/","title":{"rendered":"THG Paris: the mastery of bespoke brassware \u2022 Hotel Designs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 1956, THG Paris<\/a> has built its name on a simple but radical idea for the time: that bathroom fittings could be as decorative, considered and covetable as fine jewellery. Seventy years on, the French manufacturer is widely regarded as a leader in the high-end bathroom fittings market worldwide, with a portfolio that runs from Lalique crystal and Baccarat glass to collaborations with the F. A. Porsche design studio, and installations in properties from the Prince de Galles in Paris to yacht interiors and hotels across the globe.<\/p>\n

In the UK, that legacy lives inside a striking showroom at Chelsea Harbour, where THG relocated two years ago after three decades in Belgravia. Hotel Designs sat down with Luke Calderon, THG\u2019s UK Sales Director, to talk bespoke commissions, the changing face of brassware finishes, and why hotel bathrooms are designed first and installed last.<\/p>\n

Luke Calderon\u2019s route into bathrooms began at high-volume manufacturers before he joined Samuel Heath, which he describes as a far more traditional, quintessentially British name. It was there he met Alexandra, now THG\u2019s UK Managing Director, who later asked him to join her at THG \u2013 a move he made six years ago.<\/p>\n

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Image credit: THG Paris<\/p>\n

THG\u2019s UK story has its own quirks. The London operation was formerly Bathrooms International, a luxury showroom in Belgravia that also carried brands including Waterworks and Cristal & Bronze. When the couple who owned it retired, THG acquired the business and it became THG UK. Two years ago, having outgrown Belgravia, the brand made the move to Chelsea Harbour \u2013 part of a wider effort to roll out a consistent showroom concept across THG\u2019s global network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot more emphasis on bathrooms,\u201d Luke says. \u201cGone are the days of just a chrome or nickel boring tap \u2013 now you can pretty much do whatever you want.\u201d That shift, he believes, is a large part of why the brand has grown so significantly over the past decade.<\/p>\n

The Chelsea Harbour showroom is deliberately sequenced: premium ranges sit at the front \u201cso as not to scare people away,\u201d with the space becoming progressively more ornate \u2013 crystal, marble, elaborate detailing \u2013 as visitors move towards the back. It\u2019s a reflection of a portfolio that spans roughly 250 collections, with entry-level taps starting around \u00a3700 and bespoke pieces running up to \u00a313,000.<\/p>\n

That range is unusual for a single brand. \u201cNormally you go to a brand and they have an identity, and they have a price point,\u201d Luke explains. \u201cWhereas with THG, we tend not to have an identity as such, because we collaborate so much.\u201d Designers might come to THG for a modest hotel bathroom or for backlit gold taps in a private residence \u2013 and find both within the same brand.<\/p>\n

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Image credit: THG Paris<\/p>\n

Globally, the business skews towards hospitality, though the split shifts by region. In the UK specifically, Luke estimates sales are around 80% residential and 20% hospitality, while projects designed out of London \u2013 often destined for Dubai or continental Europe \u2013 are closer to 50\/50. Price remains a natural ceiling in hotel work, which is why THG is developing a new, more competitively priced range due within the next 12 to 18 months.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a single idea that defines THG\u2019s relationship with designers, it\u2019s this: the brand owns its own factory, so almost nothing is off the table. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve opened the gate of bespoke, everything then is bespoke from there onwards,\u201d Luke says. \u201cWe\u2019re known as a \u2018yes\u2019 company.\u201d<\/p>\n

That reputation has produced some memorable commissions. For a private club in Mayfair, THG recreated the owner\u2019s dachshund as a tap handle. A fully bespoke tap is currently in production for a London hotel that will launch within the next six months \u2013 designed from the client\u2019s own drawings, with the client retaining ownership of the finished product. And at Clarence House\u2019s penthouse, THG\u2019s blue Baccarat taps famously appeared, unprompted, in a Vogue photograph of Julia Roberts. \u201cThat\u2019s got nothing to do with us,\u201d Luke laughs, \u201cbut it made us look fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Image credit: THG Paris<\/p>\n

He draws a clear distinction between customisation \u2013 choosing from 250 ranges in 30 colours, and mixing between collections \u2013 and true bespoke work, which starts from a blank page. Around 90% of the showroom\u2019s contact is directly with interior designers; \u201cWe take the designer\u2019s lead,\u201d says Luke. \u201cThey come to us with ideas, and we just say yes, it\u2019s possible, or no, it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same collaborative instinct feeds THG\u2019s twice-yearly range launches \u2013 one in-house design and one created with an external name each year. A new collection with British designer Catherine Pooley launched at Milan Design Week earlier this year. These partnerships typically begin organically, often during a live specification project, and can take up to five years to move from first conversation to launch, given each range has to extend across roughly 2,000 individual products, from taps to robe hooks.<\/p>\n

Hotel projects follow an unusual rhythm, Luke explains. Because plumbing and first-fix work has to be locked in early, bathrooms are specified at the very beginning of a build \u2013 even though the fittings themselves are among the last things installed. THG becomes involved early with the design team, goes quiet through the middle of the build, then re-emerges around tender and pricing. Manufacturing bespoke ranges can take up to a year, meaning a 200-room hotel might need 12 to 18 months to fulfil in full \u2013 with the entire relationship, from first conversation to completed order, often spanning two to four years.<\/p>\n

Along the way, THG\u2019s role extends well beyond supplying hardware. The team advises on practical realities \u2013 where shower controls should sit so guests aren\u2019t drenched reaching for them, or why the biggest shower head isn\u2019t always the best one. \u201cIt\u2019s our job to bring their design and their concept into something that works,\u201d says Luke.<\/p>\n

One recent highlight is The Dorchester<\/a>, where THG fittings were specified across every guest room rather than being reserved for penthouses or premium suites alone \u2013 a project Luke counts among the brand\u2019s biggest recent wins. THG\u2019s footprint now spans showrooms and subsidiaries in Paris, London, Milan, New York, Shanghai and Frankfurt, with distributor partnerships extending the brand further still.<\/p>\n

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Image credit: THG Paris<\/p>\n

Finish has become the defining trend of the past several years. Traditional chrome endures because it\u2019s durable and low-maintenance, but the rise of PVD (physical vapour deposition) plating has made warmer, more characterful finishes \u2013 matte brass in particular \u2013 viable for hospitality use without the tarnishing risk once associated with gold or nickel. The catch, Luke notes, is cost: PVD is inherently expensive, so demand for these finishes constantly runs up against project budgets.<\/p>\n

Sustainability adds a further layer of tension. Designers want statement showers with multiple functions; regulations increasingly cap flow rates at 10 litres per minute. \u201cIt is a bit of a balancing act between the two,\u201d Luke says, \u201cbecause the last thing you want is a penthouse in the Dorchester with a shower head that\u2019s just dribbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether accessibility factors into THG\u2019s product thinking, Calderon is unequivocal. With many hotel brands required to make around 10% of rooms accessible, THG\u2019s in-house manufacturing means it can adapt almost anything: longer basin tap levers, sensor-operated electronic taps, bottle traps that allow wheelchair access beneath basins, room-length grab rails, and push-operated rather than lever shower valves.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s candid that brassware is the easier part of the equation \u2013 furniture and sanitaryware in this space tend to be less design-led, though THG has partnered with specialists such as Fitzroy of London to help close that gap. Sometimes the solution is as simple as clearly marked hot and cold indicators. THG is also developing a CPD module on bathroom specification for architects and designers, covering fundamentals that apply across all manufacturers, with a further module planned on sustainability standards such as BREEAM.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s next? Luke doesn\u2019t expect radical technological change in bathroom design over the next decade or two. \u201cBathrooms are sort of timeless,\u201d he says, noting that digital taps have never quite found their audience. Instead, he expects the emphasis to fall on sustainability \u2013 particularly water consumption \u2013 and on designing products built to last 15 to 20 years, reducing the environmental cost of replacement over time.<\/p>\n

For designers weighing up THG, Luke\u2019s pitch is straightforward: a single brand spanning simple chrome basics through to the ornate, alongside the continuity of matching accessories \u2013 robe hooks, towel rails, shower door rails \u2013 across every range. \u201cThe idea is that you can keep that continuity, in both the design and the finish,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s something a lot of manufacturers can\u2019t offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

THG Paris<\/a> is one of our Recommended Suppliers<\/a>\u00a0and regularly features in our\u00a0Supplier News<\/a>\u00a0section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our Recommended Suppliers, please email\u00a0Katy Phillips.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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