Clean and green technology from Villeroy & Boch

Do uncompromising hygiene and serious sustainability contradict each other? Does one involve crossing ecological red lines and the other neglect self-evident standards of cleanliness? Not if you do it right.

Granted: there are nicer things to do than clean the bathroom. But most people are prepared to sacrifice time for it. After all, the bathroom is a place where well-being and cleanliness play the main roles, without any ifs, ands or buts. However, in order to optimise bathroom users’ time in favour of ‘pure’ pleasure, German sanitary ceramics manufacturer Villeroy & Boch has invested a great deal of expertise and research in its products – all in the spirit of a sustainable cleaning strategy. With materials such as high-quality sanitary ceramics, acrylic, or QuaryI® that you simply rinse with cold water, and with practical anti-fingerprint surfaces, easy-care ceramic finishes and efficient rinsing technology, the bottom line is that there is more time for relaxing than repolishing.

With its new TwistFlush flushing technology, Villeroy & Boch is doing everything it can to reconcile the high demands of a conscientious lifestyle, hygienic cleaning, and substantial design. It is the centrepiece of the new Subway 3.0 bathroom collection , which is equipped with an innovative flush and accompanied by many other benefits. At the beginning of the development, a simple physical principle was discovered as the optimal solution: The power of a water vortex was the key to a product that would break new ground, especially in terms of water consumption.

Villeroy & Boch deliberately started with the water lever. Saving this precious resource will increasingly become one of the greatest challenges of the coming decades. A feat in that the sanitary industry in particular will be called upon to lead by example with good concepts. The shape and technology of the TwistFlush toilet are meticulously thought out. With each flush cycle, the entire inner surface of the conical basin is covered, and the controlled water jet develops a suction effect that rinses away all dirt. This not only saves a lot of environmentally harmful cleaning agents but also quite a lot of water. To put it in figures, a household of four people who each use the toilet five times per day consume over 19,700 litres of water.

But the potent water vortex is not alone. The rimless toilet is equipped with an extra-smooth surface and steep ceramic surfaces finished with CeramicPlus and optional AntiBac. While the water that touches CeramicPlus surfaces flows away and takes residues such as limescale and dirt with it, the AntiBac glaze, which is enriched with silver ions, almost completely cuts bacterial growth. Aerosols hardly stand a chance either. That’s because the precision of the flush, which is incidentally much quieter than many others, is part of the concept. Thanks to its effective cleaning power, the brush can almost always stay where it is, as it’s hardly ever used – if at all.

Not a single detail was left to chance here. Instead of the conventional flush rim, TwistFlush toilets now only have a small splash guard; the bowl itself closes off at the top with a high-quality seat made of solid-coloured Duroplast. The potential hygiene trap doesn’t have to become one at all. That’s because the seat can easily and conveniently be removed thanks to a quick release mechanism and wiped clean with lukewarm water, and possibly with mild sanitary cleaner with a damp cloth. Aggressive cleaning agents containing chlorine or acid have definitely had their day.

The innovative TwistFlush and the timeless look of the Subway 3.0 toilet have already made a name for themselves in a short time. It was awarded the Innovation Prize Architecture + Technology 2021, which counts as a benchmark for the needs of architects, planners and interior designers. But the Red Dot Award jury also recognised the innovative toilet for its particularly sustainable and hygienic effectiveness as well as its design language and functional details. Because all good things come in threes, the German Innovation Awards added another gold in the Heating & Bathroom category with the rating ‘Excellence in Business to Consumer’.

© Architonic