With his company, Matthias Fritz produces shop furnishings for product presentation – often from PLEXIGLAS®. He is so fascinated by the material that he even designs furnishings in his spare time. His pride and joy is a very special kitchen.
But Matthias Fritz is not actually a kitchen planner. Based in Innsbruck, his company PACT Technologies has been producing product presentation options since 2003. The displays and sales furnishings are intended to leave a lasting impression on potential customers. For example, the plastics specialists once embedded thousands of sparkling Swarovski stones in transparent PLEXIGLAS®.
IMPLEXIONS
“IMPLEXIONS” is the name the inventors at PACT Technologies, the company owned by Matthias Fritz and Florian Danner, have given to their technique for including various elements into PLEXIGLAS® seamlessly and without bubbles. It has been used at the Swarovski store in Innsbruck, for example, where visitors access the first floor by walking up sparkling crystals. 20,000 Swarovski crystals are embedded in the PLEXIGLAS® steps.
© PACT Technologies Consulting & Trading GmbH
Many years of experience
“My fascination with PLEXIGLAS® remains to this day,” says Matthias Fritz, who has been working with Evonik’s brand acrylic glass for 15 years now. The Austrian loves the look and feel of PLEXIGLAS® so much that he even experiments with it in his spare time; in fact, he has already produced various items of furniture from PLEXIGLAS®, from bathroom furniture to window sills. “I find the material and the possibilities it holds fascinating,” he says. “I enjoy using it to implement projects that no-one could even imagine before, or that others say are not possible.”
Kitchen fronts at a glance
Matte or high gloss; wood, glass, PLEXIGLAS® or plastic; light or dark: Kitchens come in an extraordinary range of styles and materials. Kitchen builders are even experimenting with unusual materials such as concrete. High gloss surfaces make rooms appear larger – fronts made from PLEXIGLAS® Optical HC, PLEXIGLAS® Hi-Gloss and PARAPAN® are just a few examples.
Courage is essential
There is one project Fritz is especially proud of: a snow-white kitchen in which all fronts and even the work surface are made from specially-dyed PLEXIGLAS® Satinice. The color is a custom dye. Despite the bright white, the material’s silky surface looks soft and warm.
Modern kitchen
Kitchen furniture made from PLEXIGLAS® Satinice forms the heart of the modern kitchen.
©Evonik / Fotograf: Michael Huber
White and matte
The material’s silky surface makes the white floor cupboards look soft and warm.
©Evonik / Fotograf: Michael Huber
Three-dimensional
Combining multiple sheets creates a three-dimensional cupboard back wall.
©Evonik / Fotograf: Michael Huber
Seamless adhesion
To create the kitchen, Fritz used four large PLEXIGLAS® sheets measuring 2000 mm by 3000 mm and with a thickness of 20 millimeters. Each sheet was first planed and cut to size. Fritz then mounted the individual pieces on the supporting structure – which is the same as in any other kitchen. To do this, he used screws and adhesive to attach the PLEXIGLAS® Satinice fronts and work surface. “A seamless adhesion like with PLEXIGLAS® would be impossible with any other material,” he says. “It is all but impossible to tell that the kitchen units are made from multiple sheets of PLEXIGLAS®.” The combination with other materials, such as a polished stainless steel cutting surface, was also not a problem.
It is almost impossible to tell that the kitchen units are made from multiple sheets of PLEXIGLAS®.
Matthias Fritz
CEO PACT Technologies
The kitchen has proven itself in everyday use, says Fritz. Knives and food have left no traces. “The PLEXIGLAS® still looks immaculate,” he emphasizes. Nonetheless, he does not want to add kitchens to his company’s repertoire. “We will continue to concentrate on what we do best – extraordinary presentation options.”