The transition to a separate release of its first serial product, the Prostá kitchen, in the spirit of extreme minimalism, was a natural step for the Varenycia Group, marking an important stage in the company's evolutionary development. For 11 years of development and implementation of complex individual solutions in the field of furniture and carpentry production, the Varenycia Manufacture team led by its founder Andriy Varenytsia implemented a large number of projects, including in famous European cities, which made it possible to build a correct strategy for further success. "When at work you encounter processes that are constantly repeated from project to project, it is quite natural that you optimize, reconfigure, and improve them," says Andriy. — The result of this was the idea to establish the production of our own mass-produced product. When I was thinking about which product to launch, I decided that it should be the kitchen. At that time, at "Manufaktur" we completed more than 400 kitchens of various complexity: that's 2-3 kitchens per individual order per month. That's why I thought that it would be easiest to set up serial production of the kitchen itself, because we know everything about it." This is how the company and brand Prostá was born two years ago.
Here and now
The main goal was to make a bright and clear, primarily in use, product. When you have a lot of experience, you want to implement it in such a way as to avoid those problems and mistakes that occurred in the past. During the period of operation of the Varenycia Manufacture factory, the team has accumulated a huge amount of knowledge about what difficulties the client encounters when ordering a kitchen. Therefore, a kind of trigger for the appearance of Prostá was the irresistible desire to make this process easier for the consumer, so that he has the opportunity to purchase a kitchen, like any other piece of furniture or household - here and now.
"No complications" is the main message of the company and, above all, Brand Prost
With a request to develop the design of the future kitchen, Andrii Varenytsia turned to Yuriy Salabai, the head and founder of the A44 Studio design studio. Having repeatedly collaborated on various projects, they realized that they have a similar view of things and an approach to the creative component. A44 Studio is known for working in a minimalist style, namely its conciseness, cleanliness and clarity of lines, absence of excess corresponded to the image of the future kitchen created by Andrii. Yuri managed to very subtly feel its form and character, which found its mark in the telling name - Prostá. "At some point, I saw in this word the name of the brand, the name of the cuisine, because it was the philosophy of this simplicity, intuitive comprehensibility that was subconsciously embedded in it from the very beginning," says its author Artem Zubkevich, brand director and partner of Varenycia Group.
ProstÁ modular kitchen from Varenycia. White matte facades with a soft touch effect
Then began the stage of more detailed elaboration of all technical aspects of the design and search for a base for its creation. "I refused to do this on the Varenycia Manufacture platform, because individual and serial production are different cultures, different approaches to the production process. Therefore, I found a separate site with an area of 1000 square meters for Prostá. m and started to pick up equipment," says Andrii.
Kitchen Prostá by Varenycia in sand color. The shelves are solid oak
"Back then, I had no idea how complicated this product was in all aspects," adds Artem. I liked the idea and was inspired by the passion of Andrii and Yura. It was interesting to watch their cooperation. They really have a common vision. One is just explaining how he sees it and goes to draw, and the other is already making a prototype in parallel. And when they converge at the final point, it turns out that the proposed visualization and the physical prototype are identical. Therefore, Prostá has the same appearance in reality as it did in the first sketches."
Yuriy Salabai (A44 Studio), Andriy Varenytsia and Artem Zubkevich (VARENYCIA GROUP)
No complications
"No complications" is the main message of the company and, above all, of the Prostá brand. Behind the scenes of production, difficult decisions are made, extremely complex things are manufactured, but this entire process, supported by Andriy's experience and knowledge of how to foresee and avoid any difficulties for the consumer, is hidden from the outside eye. The factory takes upon itself the resolution of any difficult moment, so that for the client this path passes without "any difficulties". There is nothing like it on the market today. "Manufacturers usually emphasize design, functionality, and for some reason do not pay attention to simplicity. We turned And they confidently occupied this niche," emphasizes Artem.
Prostá is formed from basic modules of width 60 and 45 cm - these are upper and lower cabinets. The standard height of the kitchen is 2,15 m, which is determined by the size of the appliances with which the kitchen is equipped, in particular the height of the refrigerator (the highest height of household models is usually 1,9 m). Taking into account other aspects of modeling the kitchen, for example, the presence of a plinth, it reaches 2,15 m. This is the optimal maximum at which a person can use the kitchen without the help of a chair. Also, Prostá is complemented by kitchen cabinets 60 cm wide. Standard dimensions and the possibility of free combination of modules give extraordinary freedom in terms of room design: the kitchen configuration can be virtually any. And in the case when it is impossible to achieve the maximum abutment of the kitchen from wall to wall, special plugs are used, thanks to which the integrity of the entire interior composition is ensured. "By the way, a powerful trend is coming to us from Europe - free-standing kitchens, that is, free from being attached to the wall. It's very stylish, in a new way, so more and more designers and architects are using this technique in the design of kitchen spaces," Andrii adds.
Built-in organizers for cutlery, spices and other kitchen utensils are the key to order
An interesting nuance is that Prostá has only two color solutions: white and sand. They were chosen by the author of the design Yuriy Salabai. These are current trendy shades that match any color of the walls of the room, which is proven by careful modeling with different backgrounds from bright red to saturated dark or plain white. The idea of using only two colors for Prostá became a creative projection of that strategy and philosophy of simplicity: choosing from two options is easy. This instantly speeds up the customer's decision-making process, which in turn significantly eases the emotional pressure that the buyer has to experience when choosing a kitchen for his own home.
Built-in organizers for cutlery, spices and other kitchen utensils are the key to order
Prostá production is located in Lviv, in a new leased workshop with an area of 1000 square meters. m. It is implemented by a separate team, which practically does not overlap with the Varenycia Manufacture staff - they are specialists with different experience, education, background and even character. Eight people work in one work shift, including the head of production. As for the equipment, the entire necessary range is used on the platform, in particular format-cutting machines that cut slabs; gluing (marking) that crack; drill and drill, which produce the holes necessary for fastening elements; a case loom, which assembles the finished case, ensuring the ideal geometry of the modules, as well as pressing mechanisms, assembly machines for assembling boxes.
"Manufacturers usually emphasize design, functionality, and for some reason do not pay attention to simplicity. We turned And they confidently occupied this niche" - Artem Zubkevich
"For the frame of our kitchen, we chose laminated chipboard from the Belgian company Unilin," says Andriy. — It meets our criteria as much as possible, and the main one is thickness. This is an important factor, because an error of even a millimeter affects the overall size of the cases. In addition, all the edges of the parts are glued with pure glue, which significantly increases the moisture resistance and resistance to temperature changes." In practice, this means that they can be used in an aggressive environment: regardless of the effect of water, hot steam and the consequences of other processes that take place in the kitchen, its geometry and the shape of the parts remain unchanged.
The facades for Prostá are produced from the same Belgian slab, which is individually painted in a factory in Germany. There, it is covered with a special paint with a soft touch effect (a light matte coating that is pleasant to the touch) and subjected to treatment on ultraviolet lines, due to which the paint does not burn out in the sun during the use of the kitchen, as it has already been exposed to ultraviolet rays during production. The tabletop with which Prostá is equipped is made of quartzite, an artificial stone with a thickness of 12 mm. But it is possible to make it from any material at the customer's request - HPL panels, other types of stone, wood or even plywood.
Kitchen Prostá by Varenycia, fragment
The fittings are from the well-known Austrian company Blum. "We have been cooperating for 11 years, and we have verified the quality of their products on our own experience. All accessories are branded with our logo right at the Blum factory."
Two colors, modularity, standard block sizes — all these components laid down at the design stage became the guarantee that Prostá is manufactured in just three (!) days. Even before the order is received, 90% of the kitchen is already ready and based on the warehouse as individual parts, and when it arrives, all that remains is to assemble and pack it. By the way, the kitchen is assembled directly at the production site, without various types of screeds, in Vaima. Ready-made modules are delivered to the client, which greatly simplifies and speeds up the installation process - it takes only a day.
Manufacturers of serial kitchens in Ukraine can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Usually, kitchens are delivered to us from abroad and assembled here on site. The Prosta team found an effective way to draw attention to a domestic manufacturer capable not only of creating a bright and understandable product, but also of simplifying the consumer's everyday life through the philosophy of simplicity and the speed of the kitchen manufacturing process, thought out to the smallest detail.
Kitchen Prostá by Varenycia, fragment
"It is likely that as the company operates and the Prostá brand continues to develop, we will introduce other materials, but since our philosophy is primarily based on the fact that this is an easy-to-use, practical kitchen, the new materials, if they appear, should also be simple and practical, and do not require additional care," says Andriy.
The nearest plans are to present Prostá by Varenycia to the European public next year at furniture exhibitions in Cologne, Germany, and Poznań, Poland, and to expand the geography of its foreign projects in the future. By the way, the company is currently looking for partners and dealers in Ukraine who are ready to present the new product in their salons, or to open a separate showroom under the Prostа́ and Varenycia brands.
