‘If the kitchen is the heart of the home, Why Gaggenau chose London for its largest European flagship
Gaggenau’s new flagship provides an inspiring space for creative dialogue, as head of global design Sven Baacke explains.
Why London? And why now?
Sven Baacke: London is a very global hub for us. Almost 20 years ago, we opened one of our first Gaggenau showrooms in Wigmore Street. I love that space, but it was always a challenge – it’s small and it’s in a listed house. So, we were looking for a larger location, one where we could create a social space to gather creative people together and showcase this new way of living, and we found it in Portman Square.
What can we expect from the new London flagship?
SB: It has an entrance level that is more like a gallery setting and a culinary space for gatherings in the basement. Gaggenau London is an open invitation to share ideas, to discuss ideas, and to breathe life into the place. There will be artist talks and maybe some controversial and inspirational things. If you have good conversations, good food, good wine, it’s inspiration for your heart, mind and soul. If the mixture is right, you leave thinking, “oh, this was nice evening”.
London is an established design city. What opportunities come with that?
SB: Well, London is a really special place. It’s affluent, it’s so beautiful and it is a global design hub. It is very international too – from the food scene to the architecture, design and art. London is a city that is very important for Gaggenau. It is a very fruitful place where a lot of good collaborations take shape.
As a designer, do you think about how you want people to feel in a Gaggenau kitchen?
SB: If people say that the kitchen is the heart of the home, I would say Gaggenau is the soul of it. What we are trying to do is create this feeling that you’re really at home. With Gaggenau, we want to enable you to do things easily, so you have time for socialising and can be a relaxed host, and you can create this feeling of lightness because you aren’t struggling with the wrong tools in your kitchen. You need to experience that, which is why we made Gaggenau London in this way.
Visit Gaggenau London at 6-7 Portman Square, London W1H 6LA; gaggenau.com
