The temperature is soaring and the humidity levels are through the roof. But if you think we’re in the UK, basking in the much-longed-for British summer heat, think again. We, along with 12 selected dealers and 10 members of RAK Ceramics UK, have jetted off to the United Arab Emirates for the weekend to have first sightings of RAK’s new products before their official launch.

And we’ve got company. Also on the trip is Phil Allen, the designer responsible for what RAK UK is calling the star of its new sanitaryware collections: Infinity. It’s the first time that even Allen has seen the collection in its finished form, as manufacturing was done at RAK Ceramics’ HQ and ever-expanding 32,280,000 sq ft factory in Ras Al Khaimah, an hour and a half’s drive from its neigh­bouring emirate Dubai.

“I suppose with something like today, I see it as a private viewing really,” smiles Allen. “It’s my chance in indulging in something that’s very creative.” 

Also on show at the unveiling are tasters from RAK Ceramics UK’s five other new sanitaryware ranges – not designed by Allen – and the first taps from its recent collaboration with German brassware manufacturer Kludi. Details of their glitzy UK July launch and the unveiling of RAK Ceramic’s new Elite Dealerships and more modern corporate identity further whet the visiting dealers’ appetites. 

Although not what he calls a “celebrity signature designer,” Allen is well-known and well-respected within the bathroom industry, having worked with manufacturers such as Twyford, Jacuzzi and Utopia for over 20 years. 

Allen attributes his success with these top bathroom names to solid training, and says he was very fortunate to have an arts school foundation background where he studied studio pottery and life drawing in the early 80s. “I wish more students nowadays had that same foundation. A lot of graduates that have worked for me are very good on the computer, which is great, but they don’t have the fundamentals, which are whether you can understand design and can draw.”

So what led Allen down the industrial design route and into the bathroom industry? He says that while on his design degree course in Birmingham during the early 80s, the radical Italian design group, Memphis – headed up by Ettore Sottsass – inspired him to change direction. 

 “They influenced me to move from a craft into a commercial, more practical understanding of design.” 

He says that as well as being bright and colourful and providing an alter­native to the bland designs of the 70s, the products that the Memphis Group designed, from furniture to ceramics, had a certain sense of humour to them. “That humour gave them character and that’s something that I’ve remembered throughout my career,” he says. Providing particular inspiration to Allen has been Matteo Thun, one of the Memphis Group’s founding members.  “I’ve followed his path from his early days with Memphis and his work still influences me. I’d love to work with Matteo,” he says. 

Other muses include the artists and sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth and the potter David Leach. “They were part of the St Ives movement in the 40s and 50s and that‘s what I grew up with, and that was my foundation.” 

It was Barbara Hepworth, Allen says, who provided the inspiration behind his 14-piece Infinity sanitaryware range for RAK Ceramics UK. The brief that the company’s md, Rob Jull, gave Allen, was: “To create a contemporary product but with enough softness and appeal to be appreciated by both professionals and the public as a true alternative to better-known manufacturers.” 

Looking to ‘break the mould,’ and to create a suite different to the more linear, geometric sanitaryware currently en vogue, Allen revisited the work of Hepworth. 

 “She went back to the natural world and her craft really was the influence behind Infinity,” he explains. “For instance, with the spiral shape of Infinity, you can easily see the inspiration from shells and more natural rock formations, and although I could quite easily have moved away from Hepworth and gone straight to the source, I think it’s great to bring something like that back in.” 

He believes that his preference to use foam models – or maquettes as they are known – rather than computer-aided design programmes, really helped him to capture the natural feel he was aiming for with Infinity. 

“When you use the computer software, sometimes you can’t get that sculptural effect straight away. The beauty of the foam models is that you get that stage very early on and they don’t lie to you. I found at ISH a lot of products are softening and becoming more sculptural. I hope we’ve hit that trend with Infinity.”

And just how pleased is RAK Ceramics UK with the Infinity range? “Exceedingly,” says md Rob Jull. “We needed to be in a position to compete with Ideal Standard for architects’ and developers’ attention, and Infinity gives us that opportunity.” 

Prior to collaborating with Allen, RAK Ceramics UK had designed all its sanitaryware in-house. So what prompted Jull to collaborate with an independent designer? “We needed to become more proactive in our design offerings,” he says. “And I was aware that we required an extra boost which could only be provided by someone of Phil Allen’s experience and ability. He’s very talented and has a strong proven track record with other well-known manufacturers who have been successful in the UK.”

Although Allen plans to continue working with Bathstore and other manufacturers, including a large sanitaryware manufacturer in the Far East which he declines to name, he will continue his collaboration with RAK Ceramics UK. “Phil will become a regular team member, initiating design work in all potential opportunities for RAK,” confirms Jull.

Designer Profile

After completing an arts foundation and then a design degree course, Allen, now 46, joined Doulton – he was with the company when it merged with Twyford in 1989 – where he spent 10 years as a designer. “At the time, Doulton was separate to Twyford, and I had the opportunity of working for 12 months at their factory in Queenborough where I really got to understand what pre-production was all about, and I’ve always had that as part of my working practice.” 

His next move was to Jacuzzi where he established a design studio, and he worked in Jacuzzi’s European and US markets as head of design for 10 years. There he had the opportunity to work with Pininfarina on the Morphosis range. “Morphosis was a fantastic collaboration with Paolo Pininfarina and we worked really well and went over to Milan and worked with his practice. We designed the sanitaryware around the cocoon-shaped bath that he initiated. That’s a great statement piece.”

Three years ago Allen decided to go it alone and develop his own design practice, wanting to become more hands-on in the design process again. “As I moved on up the career ladder, I found that as head of design, I could have been working for any department, managing the people working for me,” he explains. “And you start to lose the hands-on skills. I knew I had to do something and although leaving Jacuzzi was a huge leap for me, it would be very difficult to go back to being head of design somewhere now.” 

Since setting up his own design practice, Allen has collaborated with, among others, Utopia, Bathstore and now RAK Ceramics. Some of the collections that he worked on with Utopia were the 2008, KBB-launched Quantum suites and additions to the modular You furniture range, including the Definity freestanding bath. 

More recently, he designed the Parador and Barcelona brassware ranges for Bathstore, the latter based on the iconic Barcelona chair designed by Bauhaus architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich. 

“Ceramics has always been in my blood,” Allen says, “but there’s a danger as a designer that you can be pigeon-holed into a specialist area. Over the last couple of years I wanted to show that other bathroom products and materials interest me.” 

He is also a visiting lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, where he works with furniture and product design students in their first and second years on a one-to-two day a week basis.