Re-style the source of your favourite sounds with the new Bang & Olufsen Atelier service

Just when you thought that Bang & Olufsen couldn’t venture any further from their clean, untrammelled Scandi roots, along comes the company’s new Atelier service, forever banishing the stereotypical image of a sober, monotone corporate identity. In the beginning, B&O was synonymous with a stylish but subtle futurism, a blend of modernist forms and minimal sensibilities.

In recent years, B&O has lent its aesthetic and reputation to other very visually driven brands. There have been two collaborations with Ferrari, hardly the marque of shrinking violets, as well as bold visual ventures with creatives like MonoNeon and even the late lamented David Lynch.

Now you too can transcend Danish austerity and bring your own tastes and self-expression to a select number of Bang & Olufsen products. Enter a new service, Bang & Olufsen Atelier, a three-tiered system that brings bespoke finishes and materials to the range.

The new service starts with Atelier Catalogue, essentially a customisation process that introduces 20 different colours for the aluminium finishes that form the structural heart of B&O speakers and players. Each of these colours is available in two finishes and there’s also a piano black option. In addition to this, Atelier Catalogue provides ten different species of wood alongside ten different colour oak stains, ensuring that the wooden lamellas, or fins, that shape the company’s aesthetic, can match – or contrast – with the body.

Finally, the new service offers a total of 35 different fabrics for speaker coverings, a diverse collection of textiles and different weaves. All of these options are presented as samples in a bespoke Atelier Catalogue cabinet, which will find its way into Bang & Olufsen’s flagship stores, alongside staff members who can talk you through the process.

In total, the company reckons there are around half a million combinations on offer across the six models that can be customised, including the Beosound 2 speakers, the Beolab 8, Beoloab 28, Beolab 50 and mighty Beolab 90 speakers, alongside the Harmony and Theatre televisions, with their matching soundbar.

To announce the launch, Bang & Olufsen has also releases a Limited-Edition collection of Beosound 2 speakers, the Beosound 2 Gradient Collection. The edition features ten different colour-graded finishes (a more sophisticated process than the standard Atelier Catalogue range), each limited to ten pairs of speakers. Like all the enhanced products in the Atelier range, the customisation work is done on site at the Bang & Olufsen factory in Struer, Denmark.

The next tier is Atelier Editions, the new umbrella for Bang & Olufsen’s collaborative and limited-edition products. Going forward, this will be home of existing partnerships like Ferrari and Riva Yachts, along with new ventures that have yet to be announced.

Finally, there is Atelier Bespoke, the ultimate approach to customising audio for your home. With more in common with services like Bentley Mulliner, Q by Aston Martin or Rolls-Royce Bespoke, Bang & Olufsen Atelier Bespoke effectively opens up the floor to any suggestions from a customer. This is where you’ll be able to specify the custom gradients and fades, many of which will require extensive testing in the company’s factory before they can be applied to a customer device. A new anodising bath, complete with robotic arm, has been set up to help the precise grading and dip times of these new finishes.

On top of this, there’s the ability to match favourite colours and even fabrics and textiles, with Bespoke customers encouraged to make a real feast of the design and commissioning process. For that reason, the lead time for Bespoke projects can be up to a year, and even the Catalogue editions will take around 24 weeks to fulfil.

To date, Bang & Olufsen has already built a gold-plated record player for a customer, as well as added a glittering bronze mesh to the flagship Beolab 90 speakers. The resulting Alchemy Edition Beolab 90 commands even more than the original’s £135,000 a pair and is a simple demonstration of the role that bespoke, hand-crafted design plays across every sphere of luxury manufacturing.

If you want to try your hand at re-shaping the colour palette, there’s a dedicated Composer on the B&O website. Here you can create a design and save it to send into your nearest store where it can be discussed at a later date. Coming soon is an AR feature for iPhones that will allow B&O Atelier products to be virtually placed in your living space.

‘A customer who commissions custom or bespoke Bang & Olufsen product creates not just a set of speakers, but an extension of their personality and style,' Bang & Olufsen CEO Kristian Teär says, 'We aim to create an experience and a product that resonates with them, building a lasting relationship between Bang & Olufsen and the customer.'

Bang & Olufsen Atelier, more information at Bang-Olufsen.com, @BangOlufsen