The Evolution of Success

In life, innovation is key to staying relevant with the changing times and the same can be said for brands. A brand like Roca that embraces changes and turns challenges into opportunities is a marker for success.

To make an impression takes years and that is why some of the most renowned brands in sports, fashion, and lifestyle are also the oldest brands to exist. And if you delve deeper into a few of your favourite brands, most likely you will find out that ideas for these brands weren’t incepted in glamorous settings but they could’ve taken root in a garage, workshop or even out of desperation. Brands that come to mind are Tiffany & Co., Samsung, Louis Vuitton, and Walt Disney to name a few.

In certain instances, brands could have started off as something else only to evolve into an entirely new business like Roca. Roca began operations in 1917, exclusively engaged in the manufacturing of cast iron radiators for domestic heating in its Gavà plant (Barcelona, Spain).

After these first radiators, the firm expanded its portfolio with the production of boilers. In 1929, Roca entered the bathroom space by starting the production of baths.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the bathroom began to become a necessary and indispensable room in homes, with a style oriented towards functionality. This new concept of functional bathroom space was based on the progressive use of new, lighter, more resistant and more modern materials such as white enamel, tiles and marble. After the World War I, new materials allowed the development of more accessible models for large groups of the population and this enabled Roca to introduce sanitary ware in Spain from 1936 and its range of bathtubs was expanded. Later, Roca would expand its activity towards taps and ceramics.

During the last third of the 20^th century, when awareness for the environment took relevance globally, Roca took the lead in sustainable design by introducing technological advances and systems to promote environmental preservation in its products, such as reducing the capacity of the cisterns of its toilets to optimize water consumption or developing faucet products capable of reducing energy consumption. This is how, in the 1990s, the integrated electronic faucet were developed, which combines technology, functionality, design and rational water consumption.

During the years, the collaboration between Roca and some of the world’s most prestigious designers such as Belén and Rafael Moneo, David Chipperfield, Marcello Cutino, Ramón Benedito, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron among others has been very important. Furthermore, nowadays Roca adds the sustainability concept to the innovative design and well-being of its products to integrate Roca’s respect for the environment into all of its production processes. Under this premise, it created the “Roca Loves the Planet” concept, which comes with all the production processes at their factory, as well as the development of Roca’s products and the social activities of the company.

Throughout it’s more than 100 years of history; Roca has contributed to the evolution of the bathroom space around the world and has facilitated the access of millions of families to better living conditions, meeting their legitimate requirements in terms of hygiene, design, comfort and respect for the environment. The constant investment, non-conformism and independence (family-owned company) have earned the recognition of Roca as a reference company in the bathroom space sector around the world.