Roca, world leader in bathroom design, has picked Barcelona as the city in which to open its new architectural centre, designed to be a global reference point for the company’s social, cultural and exhibiting activities.
This new building, called the Roca Gallery, is conceived with the idea of becoming a new space which will embrace the city and be a venue where visitors can learn about, experience and discover all there is to know about the world of bathroom design. It also aims to communicate to people its brand ethos, its history (almost 100 years old now) and its most recent achievements.
The 2,400 sq m space, located on Juan Güell street, occupies three floors. It was designed by the prestigious architecture practice OAB (Office of Architecture in Barcelona) whose director is Carlos Ferrater. This new project is remarkable mainly for its strong architectural qualities which aim to reflect Roca’s core brand values. Water, lighting and colour – all distinguishing characteristics of this firm – are used to create the building’s unique interiors. Iluminated by hundreds of LED lights, the building is designed to be seen as a massive lightbox by night and an enormous shop window by day.
The ground-floor level, called Roca World, focuses on capturing the essence of the brand: its core values and history. State-of-the-art technology allows visitors to see a quick audio-visual presentation of the world of bathroom design and to enjoy various projections which recreate the activities which take place in bathrooms on a daily basis. In addition, this floor has a large reception and a bathroom design consultancy.
The first floor, which is called Triple Espacio (Third Space), mounts different temporary exhibitions and sociocultural displays. Roca Gallery’s inaugural show was named El Baño, Una Mirada Histórica (Bathrooms – a Look at their History), where you can see such unique pieces as the sink and bidet from the bathroom of Empress Sisi (Elisabeth of Bavaria, 1876-1965).
Roca products are currently available in about 135 countries and the company has 65 factories scattered across 17 of these. It collaborates with highly prestigious designers, architects and interior designers such as Rafael Moneo, David Chipperfield, Herzog & de Meuron, the studio Benedito Design, Giugiaro Design and Schmidt & Lackner. It also promotes and supports young talent via such initiatives as the international design competition Jump the Gap, which gives the winning project and its creator the opportunity to earn itself an international recognition.
All this has led to Roca becoming an internationally respected brand in the bathroom design world.
