In the leafy Berkshire village of Bray-on-Thames, you’ll find one of the UK’s outstanding fine dining experiences, The Waterside Inn. Renowned for its classic French cuisine, The Waterside Inn has retained its three Michelin stars since 1984, the longest of any restaurant outside France. Now under the leadership of Chef Patron, Alain Roux, The Waterside Inn is as famous for its hospitality as for its food.
As a restaurant with rooms, The Waterside Inn offers 11 luxuriously appointed guestrooms, a private dining room and has its very own boat, The Waterside Inn II, that seats eight and is the perfect vessel for a jaunt upstream. The establishment has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a ramshackle riverside pub bought and transformed by Michel and Albert Roux in 1972!
When planning Phase One of a two-phase refurbishment of its guestrooms, in-house designer, Laura Roux, wished that each of the four rooms and en-suite bathrooms should retain their own unique character and charm. As with all aspects of The Waterside Inn, attention to detail is everything, and the fittings and fixtures were quickly identified as important finishing touches to greatly enhance the completed look and feel of each room. Far from objects of mere utility, Laura was keen that the radiators should be a focal point in her designs. Laura sought inspiration at the Bisque Customer Experience Centre (CEC) in Camberley to view the radiator designs, styles and colours featured within the collections. Having had sight of Laura’s architect plans, the Bisque team were also able to help calculate the outputs required within Laura’s design brief.
‘We wanted a mix of traditional and modern radiators and found that Bisque, which is part of the Zehnder group, offered a broad range of products designed to enhance the atmosphere and style of any room,’ says Laura. ‘Bisque was the natural choice because it’s a brand that shares our passion for excellence, and its outstanding reputation for quality and fantastic customer service lived up to our expectations. Our challenge was to ensure the refurbished rooms felt fresh and inviting while remaining faithful to the overall look and feel of the restaurant and hotel. We appreciated the professional guidance and support we received throughout.’
Phase One focused on four guestrooms, namely La Tamise, Le Nid Jaune, Le Jardinet and La Terrasse. Each redesign is defined and inspired by its name (see captions).
Bisque central heating radiators from the Classic range lend subtle sophistication to each of the guestrooms. With 71 sizes in stock, and bespoke sizes also available, there are options to suit even the trickiest of spaces. The radiators can also be colour-matched to popular paint ranges such as Farrow & Ball and Little Greene. Wall-mounted models have underside connections; floor-mounted models have side connections. Bisque Classics are manufactured using new laser welding technology, which provides a superior finish and quality, with electric versions are also available.
Bisque towel rail radiators from the Buckingham range are fitted in three of the bathrooms (La Tamise, Le Jardinet and Le Nid Jaune). These follow a traditional, wall-mounted design and are available in 10 colours and three deluxe finishes, including bright nickel, brass and antique bronze. Finally, a Bisque towel radiator from the Osbourne range was used in one bathroom (La Terrasse). This floor-mounted model is perfect for industrial-style designs or antique finishes, and comes in a number of deluxe finishes, from bright nickel to polished brass. Bisque also supplied radiators for the reception and foyer areas of the Waterside Inn, as well as the downstairs guest cloakrooms.
‘Bisque doesn’t just make amazing products, the team there builds strong relationships too,’ says Laura Roux. ‘It speaks volumes that the late Michel Roux originally approached Bisque himself, as he was aware of the brand and its excellent reputation. We are delighted with the superb durability and quality of the products and they look fantastic in our rooms. We would not hesitate to recommend Bisque and its products.’
About Bisque
Bisque, which is part of the Zehnder group, crafts radiators that provide beautiful, practical and efficient heating solutions which are also environmentally responsible. They are an expertly engineered fusion of form and function, helping to create the perfect indoor climate at any time of year.
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Our smart home assistants must do more than play our favourite playlists and tell us the weather. In many ways they are becoming our life assistants; planning our days, telling us the news and controlling our home appliances. For years, homeowners have been able to customise the temperatures of their home using their smart devices. So what’s next?
As homes become smarter, bringing greater benefits, so too will heating systems. By adopting smarter features, heat will be generated only when and where its required to the exact temperature that is optimal for every square foot. Simple upgrades to homes across the country will have a huge impact on comfort, convenience and energy bills. Homes will provide more control and improved thermal comfort of occupants by enabling the personalisation of each room.
Smarter choices
Smart heating systems are designed so users can easily control their thermostat directly from an app on their phone – whether you’re out, on the sofa or having a lie-in. This is an altogether better and smarter choice for people to keep out the cold this winter.
With homes and heating systems becoming increasingly connected, the benefits are continuing to grow. With the Internet of Things (IoT) powering technology, users can control their heating wherever and whenever they want to. They can easily regulate temperatures when they need to, allowing you to schedule the house to warm up as you wake up and for your arrival. Not only this, but it allows you to save on heating when you’re away. These benefits demonstrate why smart heating devices have become so crucial to homes in 2019.
For those who would like to do more to reduce their energy consumption and their heating bill, they must take into account reliability and overall performance when choosing the right heating solutions for their home. The good news is that heating products currently on the market are more efficient than ever thanks to innovations resulting from research and development. The right heating system will be one that adapts to your everyday home routine and begins saving you money. By setting your home to certain temperatures as quickly as possible, the app will help you to do just that.
Take control of your energy consumption
With the explosion of apps, it’s now possible to take control of at home appliances including heating, lighting and entertainment systems. Not only does this make it easier for individuals to control their appliances for heating in particular, it allows individuals to take control of their energy on the go to reduce their long-term energy consumption. With smart home assistants such as Google Assistant and Alexa joining the band wagon, it makes it easier than ever to control your heating. You can ask them to set your heating at a certain temperature, increase/decrease the heating and check what temperature your home is at.
Smart heating systems will enable users to personalise their home environment according to their needs by allowing them to control the temperature and schedule in their home completely independently. By starting with a smart room thermostat and building a full multi-room system over time, this simple upgrade to heating appliances will have a huge impact on overall comfort, convenience and energy bills.
Wiser Heat, a smart heating system by Schneider Electric, is one such solution. Wiser links radiator thermostats through the Internet of Things (IoT), while a phone app provides users convenient and complete control over home heating. This kind of IoT solution allows users to monitor the temperatures of individual rooms and change them remotely via their smartphone, wherever they are.
Home improvers may now be striving for smarter, more connected homes, but they want something that’s plug and play. Smart heating systems fit the bill as they have no wires, no installation and no mess and of course, are better for the environment. Adopting technology like this is necessary if people want to reduce their energy consumption in the future. The most modern heating solutions will be key in facilitating smarter, more energy efficient homes for the benefit of our wallets and our planet.
About the Author
SBID Accredited Industry Partner, Schneider Electric is a global specialist in energy management and automation providing energy technologies, software and digital automation solutions for efficiency and sustainability in the home, buildings, data centres and more.
This article was written by Nico van der Merwe, Vice President of Home & Distribution at Schneider Electric.
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