Compact by design: Roca’s Avant toilet system
By integrating the cistern into a single volume, the new model Avant simplifies installation, reduces depth, and supports a quieter, more efficient user experience across both small and large bathroom environments
What do we search in a bathroom? The question tends to return the same set of priorities – efficiency, hygiene, quietness, a sense of order – but in practice these qualities are rarely addressed simultaneously, and even less often through a single element. The bathroom remains a space where performance and spatial constraints intersect in a particularly evident way, requiring fixtures that are not only reliable but also capable of adapting to increasingly compact layouts without adding visual or functional complexity.
Roca’s Avant toilet positions itself as a compact and carefully resolved response to the persistent spatial and functional constraints of contemporary bathrooms, where the demand for efficiency increasingly overlaps with expectations of comfort, quietness, and visual clarity. Rather than relying on overt stylistic gestures, the project works by refining the typology of the toilet itself, starting from a structural reconsideration: the integration of the cistern directly into the bowl.
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With its all-in-one configuration, Avant eliminates the need for external elements that traditionally occupy both physical and visual space, resulting in a more contained volume that can be more easily accommodated across a range of bathroom layouts, from compact urban settings to more generous residential contexts. The reduction in depth – approximately twenty centimeters compared to conventional toilets – becomes particularly relevant in projects where every centimeter has an impact on usability and circulation.
At the same time, the absence of an exposed cistern or, in the wall-hung version, a visible flush plate contributes to a quieter visual field, aligning with a broader tendency towards minimal, unobtrusive bathroom environments where fixtures are expected to recede rather than dominate. This formal neutrality is deliberate: Avant toilet does not impose a specific aesthetic language; instead, it adapts to different interior scenarios, functioning as a background element that supports rather than defines the overall design.
The technical dimension remains integral, yet it is framed as part of a broader effort to ensure adaptability. Avant is available in both non-electric and electric versions, responding to different infrastructural conditions without altering the overall design language. The standard model operates without electricity when the mains water supply meets minimum requirements, while the Avant-E version introduces an electrical connection to ensure consistent performance where these conditions are not guaranteed. This dual approach allows the system to remain flexible without introducing unnecessary complexity, maintaining a balance between functionality and clarity of use.
Flexibility is further reinforced by the availability of two configurations – a floor-standing model and a wall-hung version scheduled released at the end of last year, 2025 – each responding to different architectural and installation logics while maintaining the same integrated principle. Beyond its spatial qualities, Avant addresses a more subtle but increasingly relevant aspect of bathroom design, which is acoustic comfort.
We know that conventional toilets often produce a level of flush noise that can be intrusive, particularly in smaller dwellings or in layouts where bathrooms are closely connected to living or sleeping areas – so, by rethinking the internal mechanics of the flushing system, Avant toilet reduces noise by approximately fifteen percent, contributing to a more discreet and controlled user experience.
This improvement is achieved through the application of the Venturi effect, which regulates water flow within the integrated cistern, resulting in a flush that is both efficient and more contained, with reduced turbulence and splash. Developed in collaboration with the French company SIAMP, this system underlines how the project relies on precise engineering to support everyday comfort.
Attention to use continues in the management of water and hygiene. Avant incorporates a dual flush system that allows users to modulate water consumption according to need, while the Rimless Vortex distribution directs water in a controlled, circular motion, improving coverage and reducing splashing. The absence of a traditional rim simplifies cleaning by eliminating areas where dirt tends to accumulate, and the Supraglaze treatment applied to internal surfaces further facilitates maintenance by limiting particle adhesion. These elements do not introduce new visual features, but instead reinforce the idea of a product designed to remain efficient and unobtrusive over time.
Maintenance and installation are approached with the same logic of simplification. The design allows easy access to internal components, an aspect often secondary to formal integration but essential over the lifespan of the product. The seal-free flush system reduces the risk of leaks, while, in the wall-hung version, the integrated cistern minimises the extent of wall intervention typically required for concealed systems, simplifying installation and reducing its overall complexity. These decisions contribute to a system that is not only compact, but also consistent and predictable in long-term use, and that respond to European standards, integrating elements to the design rather than treat them as an additional feature.
The broader significance of the Avant toilet lies in its attempt to reconcile multiple, often competing demands – space optimization, acoustic comfort, water efficiency, ease of maintenance, and formal neutrality – within a single, coherent object, mirroring the effort of the brand to stay loyal to its principles. It does not propose a radical departure from the conventional toilet in visual terms, but instead refines its internal logic to produce incremental yet tangible improvements in everyday use.
In this sense, the project reflects a pragmatic approach to innovation, where design operates through adjustment and calibration rather than through visible disruption. For designers and specifiers, this translates into a product that can be integrated with relative ease into different project types, offering concrete advantages without requiring significant changes to existing design strategies.
With over a century of industrial activity, Roca operates at the intersection of manufacturing and the design of bathroom solutions for architecture, construction, and interior projects. Founded in 1917, the company has maintained a consistent set of principles – innovation, technical expertise, and a sustained focus on environmental responsibility – that inform its development processes at every stage, from production to final application.
This approach translates into the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques and materials, alongside a continuous effort to reduce water and energy consumption and to simplify product assembly. Today, this operational model extends across seventy-eight factories worldwide, supporting a distribution network that reaches more than 150 countries. Within this global framework, Roca holds a leading position in Europe and Latin America, while maintaining a consolidated presence in China, broader Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa.
About the author
Ludovica Proietti, journalist, design historian and curator, teaches in universities and curates events, always exploring projects with fresh, unconventional perspectives.
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