The concept for the Roca London Gallery begins with water in its many forms and phases as both an idea to make space and to express our adaptability and openness to change and innovation. Water acts as a theme for the architecture theme, connecting all aspects of the Gallery. The displays and the areas around each display have been shaped by the movement of water. Water has created a changeable space, one which people will continue to return to.

Zaha Hadid Architects incorporated Roca’s established history and culture of innovation into the experience of the space. Rather than create a fixed gallery solely for products, Zaha Hadid developed a flexible space for Roca, where displays, a meeting room, café bar, library, multi-media wall, reception and video screens are dispersed so visitors feel they are in an active design centre; a research hub that is much more than just a showroom.

The facade is a unique feature of the Gallery which gives the space an immediate identity. It incorporates a coherent blend of forms and contours which are used in an unexpected way to create a series of architectural cut outs and openings into the space.

The geometry of the three display environments at the front of the Gallery form a continuous surface with the facade creating a single uninterrupted space that interweaves exterior and interior whilst the strong material logic of the façade is maintained in exposed concrete.

The Gallery occupies one floor and covers an area of 1,100 m2. The white space of the main gallery is shaped by the continuous logic of the illuminated water drops that seamlessly connects the different areas. The array of glowing ‘pods’ builds the spine of the central space that is further defined with its final spiral move, which leads to the knowledge, research and and multi-media seating area next to the main reception.

The bold spatial concepts of the unique display environments stand out as dark grey concrete in contrast with the white central spine of the Gallery. Their form has been sculpted as if by the properties of erosion combined with the functional considerations of the gallery to allow flexibility. The continuing variety within the five distinct bathroom areas evolves along the backbone of the main Gallery.