Vizona
June 2008

The company opened its first manufacturing plant in Weil am Rhein, Germany, close to the German/Swiss/ French border, in 1950. In 1984, the company split into two divisions: Vitra, which produces office furniture, and the shopfitting company, Vitrashop Group. Five years later, the Vitra Design Museum was opened in Weil am Rhein, which has proven to be an extremely important part of the group’s heritage and of enormous interest, not only to retailers but to architects and designers too

“ The Vitra Design Museum is internationally active as a cultural institution that has made a major contribution to the research and popular dissemination of design. The Vitrashop Group is the only company with a sister company like Vitra which collaborates with some of the world’s most prominent architects, most of whom are Pritzker Award-winners, commissioning design exhibitions and innovative buildings that architectural students and visitors from across Europe can enjoy and learn from. Architects whose buildings are situated at the museum include Frank Gehry, Alvaro Siza, Nicholas Grimshaw, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Jean Prouve and Richard Buckminster Fuller.

2001 was a landmark year for the company, as it undertook a significant re-focusing of the group and its divisions; Vitrashop Group was split into Visplay (modular systems for commercial interiors) and Vizona (customised solutions and projects) — two independent shopfitting specialists. Since 2005 Ansorg GmbH (lighting solutions)/Mülheim a.d.R. has also been part of the Vitrashop Group.

“Normal operations will see a variety of projects being handled at any one time for our repeat user client base, from small retail refit projects with a value of £15k through to a £30k coffee shop, to large retailer projects in excess of £400k.” explains Poxon. “As ever, the secret is not so much in the value of the projects but maintaining the quality of delivery on all of the number of projects running and completing at the same time.”

Celsius Solutions has recently completed the design, project management and fit-out of a new artisan Chocolate and Patisserie facility in West London for a Chocolatier of international renown with new retail outlets due to open shortly in Kensington and Belgravia.