Home owners are loving being able to walk around their brand new dream bathroom – before it’s even been built.
The award-winning Ripples bathroom showroom in Southport is utilising cutting edge Virtual Reality (VR) technology to bring bathroom designs to life.
Ripples Southport has been inundated with inquiries from customers since it was named UK Bathroom Retailer of the Year at the KBBFocus awards.
One of the great attractions for customers is working with Ripples Bathroom Designer Annie Simpson to explore how they want their ideal bathroom to look.
Annie then designs and builds a unique custom-built bathroom digitally, and hands people a VR headset inside the Ripples showroom on Eastbank Street.
It allows the wearer to walk inside how their bathroom will look, ensuring that every detail is correct before installation work even begins.
Annie has been working with Ripples Southport owners Daniel and Jenna Doherty in a full-time capacity since August and loves seeing people’s reaction when they take a first VR look inside their new bathroom.
She said: “I am the first port of call when customers first come into Ripples in Southport.
“I enjoy sitting down with them, showing them the huge range of bathrooms and accessories that we have available, and then starting to draw up some design ideas.
“We then build that into a Virtual Reality bathroom that they can walk around and explore using our VR headset.
Ripples Bathroom Designer Annie Simpson. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
“It’s an amazing experience. They can turn on the taps; operate the shower and the bath; open and shut cupboard doors.
“It’s a brilliant way for really taking in a 3D view of how the space will look. You can make changes; try different placements; play around with different tile ideas, different colours.
“It gives people a real sense of what their new bathroom will be like. It is as close to real life as it gets.
“Installing a new bathroom can be a significant investment and you want to make sure that the end results are just how you envisage.
“Our customers love it. It is a world apart from showing someone a concept drawing on paper.
“We believe we are the only bathroom showroom in this region using this technology to create VR bathrooms.
“This service has the home owner very much in mind. We can fully customise a bathroom down to the smallest detail so it is exactly how you like it.
“It takes away any need for guessing what your bathroom is going to be like.
“These are important decisions to make! You are deciding how your home is going to look for the next few years, in rooms where you spend a lot of your time, so you want to be able to get it just right.”
Annie is enjoying working in a local family-run business which was recently awarded the title of UK Bathroom Retailer of the Year.
She said: “It was incredible when we won the award!
“It feels really good to be part of this team with what we have achieved.
“For a bathroom showroom in a little town like Southport to have won such a huge national award, competing against bathroom showrooms from across the whole of the UK, makes us all really proud.”
Ripples Southport opened with a brand new showroom in July 2022 under local couple Daniel and Jenna Doherty.
It was the first ever Ripples showroom in the north of England.
Ripples Southport features a vast array of quality products from some of the top bathroom brands in Europe.
The showroom, which features over 18 room set displays, showcases the very best in bathroom furniture, accessories and design solutions, with an in-house designer, Annie Simpson, on-hand to create tailored bathroom spaces for visiting clients.
Ripples works with esteemed bathroom suppliers across Europe. Its product range includes baths, showers and enclosures, WCs, basins and brassware in almost every style, colour and design imaginable.
It also offers unique collections and materials that provide something a little bit different including copper baths, special finish brassware and bespoke solid wood furniture.
- Ripples Southport is located at 78-80 Eastbank Street, Southport PR8 1EF. For more information, visit ripplesbathrooms.com or call 01704 651796.
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