Left, Denmark’s

Nationalbank.

Below, the original VOLA

drawing for the iconic KV1.

6

A heritage that continues

to inspire and inform

Shortly after Danish architect Arne Jacobsen won

a competition in 1961 for his design of Denmark’s

Nationalbank he was contacted by Verner Overgaard,

the owner of VOLA A/S, who introduced his proposal

for a new type of wall-mounted mixer tap. Overgaard

imagined a design where all the mechanical parts of

the mixer were hidden, leaving only the handles and

spout exposed. At the time, this was a completely new

concept and Jacobsen realised that this idea combined

with his functional approach to design had great

potential. With that basic principle in mind, the simple

VOLA design that we know today was conceived.

It was at Denmark’s Nationalbank in 1968 that the

iconic 111 VOLA tap made its first public appearance,

attracting immediate international acclaim for the

approach of 'total design' (Gesamtkunstwerk) in

designing the architecture and everything inside.

With just the spout and lever visible, the 111 was the

first fully-integrated, single-lever mixer tap. Prioritising

function and proportion without compromising style,

the new VOLA product became a celebrated

classic and Jacobsen’s design has changed little

in over five decades.

From the original design VOLA went on to develop

the unique, flexible, modular system that enables the

user to combine and match individual components

to suit any scheme.

We continue to stay true to our original principles

of excellent design and functionality. This has been

and always will be integral to how we think, design

and manufacture. Much imitated but never equalled,

VOLA has been the designers’ choice since 1968.