New Meridian × Roca

When Roca asked us to redesign one of their best-selling collections, the real challenge was not formal — it was conceptual: an act of balance between holding on and letting go, honouring an essence and discarding what no longer belongs. What emerged is an almost entirely new proposal, rooted in the architectural heritage of the Mediterranean — its emphasis on well-being, care and love for water, from bathing to fountains to the surrounding sea — reinterpreted through a contemporary lens that blends timeless qualities with modern clarity.

At the heart of the collection, the asymmetrical washbasin carries the suggestion of water in motion - a drop meeting a still surface, caught and translated into ceramic: subtle, flowing contours merge seamlessly with the supporting cabinetry to form a single, unified composition. The region's distinctive light — and its architectural response to that light — runs through every decision, from proportion to surface to detail.

Reflecting on what we understand as “mediterranean” was a stimulating exercise. The name Meridian carries two meanings. The first is architectural: for over two thousand years, the arc has defined the built landscape of the region — from the whitewashed villages of Greece to the ancient medinas of North Africa. In Meridian, we distilled this archetype to its purest form: a geometric arc that lives on in the sculpted oval of the washbasin, a shape that feels at once ancient and contemporary.

The second meaning is astronomical — the movement of the sun. It burns intense and white at noon, casting deep black shadows, then softened to warm gold at dawn and dusk. This quality of Mediterranean light guided our color concept from the very beginning. expressed through rough plaster textures, the warmth of wood, and the weight of cast metal — noble, natural materials that give Meridian its elemental character.

A bathroom is often a compact, functional space — yet it is the washbasin unit that carries the greatest responsibility for creating atmosphere. To bring harmony and calm to the space, we developed a family of wood and metal storage units combining two distinct furniture lines: a wall-hung version with a wood frame, and a floor-standing metal frame structure. Slender, precise, and architectural, both share the same underlying concept — thin frames containing an alphabet of interchangeable storage elements.

Different combinations of finishes and materials allow Meridian to inhabit a wide range of spaces and moods — from residential to hospitality, from traditional to urban contemporary. We imagine the wall-hung line in pared-back, contemporary interiors, while the floor-standing metal frame feels equally at home in historic architecture or design-led hotels seeking warmth and character. In the art direction of the campaign imagery we designed each setting to reflect a different facet of the collection.

Close-coupled WCs are typically chosen where concealed cistern solutions are not viable — in historic buildings, tight budgets, compact spaces, or public settings such as museums, offices and restaurants that demand accessible maintenance. Often seen as a practical necessity rather than a considered choice, they represent one of the most common yet overlooked typologies in bathroom design.

With Meridian, we set out to challenge that perception. The pan rests on a clean volume, with the tank behind completing this gesture to form a single column. The flush system reduces water consumption from 20 to just 4.5 litres — a significant technical achievement folded invisibly into the design. it felt like a project with a social dimension: bringing formal attention and genuine quality to a solution used across the widest range of spaces and people.