6th Jump The Gap Roca International Design Contest

Jumpthegap is an International Design Contest promoted by Roca with the collaboration of BCD Barcelona Design Centre that is looking for new, innovative and sustainable concepts for the bathroom space.

We understand the innovation concept as the anticipation of users’ new desires and needs, as well as (why not?) the transformation of dreams and desires into reality.

The sustainability is one of the most important principles to take into account when innovating in the bathroom space. In the era we are living, we have to grantee products oriented to the saving of water, energy and resources.

Jumpthegap offers the opportunity to young designers or architects and design or architecture students to create and design innovative sustainable solutions for the bathroom and related products. This is the evidence that Roca is betting for the support of the new generations of designers and architects.

This sixth edition of Roca International Design Contest is aimed at creative people who think towards the future whilst designing today.

More than 50% of the products that we will use in 10 years have not yet been manufactured, much less designed. So what will they be like?

A large part of those products incorporate concepts and technologies that we may not even be able to imagine today... or maybe we can. Jumpthegap starts from the assumption that young creative people design today whilst thinking about tomorrow; a tomorrow when the limitations of today will not apply and when new needs, architecture, technologies and products will emerge which will help us to improve people’s lives by bringing them more well-being, hygiene and comfort.

These are designs that can bring forth their vision of conceptually innovative bathroom products and solutions: new products, new spaces and/or new uses and functions.

Inspiration Insights

We do not really know how will truly be the future of the design for the bathroom space, but there are a number of undeniable drivers that will shape the society of the next future. We would like to transmit them with the intention to serve as inspiration to develop your projects:

1- SUSTAINABILITY
The so called “Eco products” must be better in every sense. We see that even that the environmental concern of the consumers is growing; they will only adopt sustainable practices if they receive direct, visible and measurable benefits. Being sustainable must be convenient: it must require little or no effort, and it must be very clear what the impact of every action is. Being sustainable must be profitable: it must make the consumer to save resources (i.e.: money) and it must be measurable.

2- AGEING POPULATION
Bathrooms designed for dependent people have to facilitate the execution of routine tasks. The user should be able to perform them without additional knowledge and / or special skills in order to minimize the time spent on non-pleasant activities. New products must create the perception of safety and should delay the moment when external help is required to perform the bathroom basic activities. An appealing design and simplicity of the interface should make all special features look desirable.

3- HOMING
The bathroom experience is a very personal moment and, ideally, the bathroom should therefore be your private one ideally. If it is not possible, it should at least welcome you in a cosy atmosphere, warm and comfortable.
Homing doesn’t necessarily have to be deployed in the high-end products only, but also in the mainstream segment those that will make them proud of because they will be more visible.

4- SURPRISING EXPERIENCES
The raise of hyper-emotional consumption brings along the need to live new surprising multisensory experiences. The value of objects decrease and the increasing value of time itself make the consumers search for emotionally intense experiences that may impact on their different senses.

5- AUTOMATIZATION
Technology will be welcome in the bathroom in the same way that it is welcome in other rooms, as far as it:

- strengthens the feeling of “having things done for you” and makes your life simpler
- minimizes the time spent in non-pleasant activities (like cleaning)
- leaves the bathroom ready for the next user with the minimum effort.

Smart products that eliminate the routine actions like switching on devices, setting up working conditions, opening and closing lids, etc. Intelligent products that understand what you expect from them and react accordingly.