The bathroom of our times is smart, cosy, green – and sometimes tiny

At ISH 2023 – the world’s leading trade fair for HVAC and water in Frankfurt (13 to 17 March 2023) – the bathroom industry will be presenting its new developments for the private bathroom. Besides lifestyle-oriented products for a cosy bathroom, the focus is also increasingly on ideas for smart bathroom solutions, compact urban bathrooms and sustainable bathrooms. At the same time, the new products on show in The Bathroom Experience are very much oriented towards owners’ needs. The bathroom sector is anticipating that ISH 2023 will generate a lot of momentum in the market over the rest of the year, especially with regard to bathroom renovations.

From 13 to 17 March, Frankfurt will be home to what is probably the biggest bathroom showroom in the world. In particular, the market leaders and major brands exhibiting in The Bathroom Experience are aiming to present their new products and concepts to professional visitors. Despite a difficult economic environment, the German market for bathroom products is considered a growth market. The German Bathroom Sector Association (Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitärwirtschaft e.V./VDS) estimates that more than 10 million private bathrooms in Germany will need renovating over the next few years. “Every fourth bathroom in Germany is waiting for modernisation measures,” says Jens J. Wischmann, managing director of the Bonn-based association. “Renovating private bathrooms doesn’t just have a positive impact on the environment and save precious resources thanks to the water- and energy-saving products that are now available; because a modernisation goes hand in hand with an appealing interior design and added comfort value, it also enhances the quality of the time people spend in their bathrooms. As a rule, investing in the bathroom increases a property’s value significantly.” What’s more, continues Wischmann, implementing a barrier-free bathroom means that people can stay in their homes well into old age – a factor that plays an important role for society as a whole in view of the ageing population.

The Pop up my Bathroom industry platform invites discussion of the most important trends

The latest developments in sustainability, trends in bathroom design and the industry’s innovations are also the focus of the Pop up my Bathroom trend showcase at ISH 2023. Established by the VDS and Messe Frankfurt, the trend platform for the bathroom sector hosts a large-scale exhibition and accompanying talk forum, both of which are aimed not just at the trades but at creatives such as architects, professional bathroom planners and designers. Pop up my Bathroom keeps permanent track of the most important trend developments in contemporary bathroom design.

Living Bathroom: the bathroom that feels like home

The most obvious development in recent years is the bathroom’s evolution into fully fledged living space. Today cosiness, zeitgeist, fashion and style are crucial criteria for professional bathroom design, as well as modern usage concepts that enhance the quality of the space and permit health-related activities. Besides atmospheric lighting systems and lamps, the bathroom is also increasingly home to stools, cushions and armchairs, rugs and wallpaper, colour-coordinated accessories and top-quality, cosy bathroom furniture that guarantees adequate storage space. The bathroom is featuring more furniture and more textiles and gaining both flexibility and attractiveness.

Sustainable: water and energy savings and eco-friendly bathroom planning

The bathroom is increasingly being regarded from a sustainability perspective and evaluated critically. Replacing ageing bathroom products with more efficient and highly functional upgrades therefore makes good sense with regard to building ecology as well. When it comes to saving water and energy, just installing new hand showers and washbasin mixers will have a considerable effect and is an easy measure to implement. As for toilets, there are numerous innovations for a sustainable bathroom on the market that not only save water but reduce the amount of cleaning products required too, including rimless models, water-saving bowl geometries, dual flush technologies and hygienic finishes. At the same time, shower toilets are playing an increasingly important role and contribute to the bathroom’s sustainability because they save toilet paper and make moist toilet tissue totally superfluous. However, apart from the actual bathroom equipment, consumers will increasingly be paying attention to the “complete package” – i.e. not just the product itself but the brand behind it as well. The German bathroom industry is already one step ahead in that respect: sustainability has long been embedded in many companies’ corporate culture. All in all, the VDS anticipates that sustainability will play an ever more important role in bathroom-related purchase decisions in the years ahead.

The Zero Waste trend is also becoming increasingly important for the bathroom. The goal is to avoid waste completely. That particularly applies to plastic waste, large amounts of which tend to be associated with the bathroom because toiletries and cleaning products like toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, multipurpose cleaner etc. generally come in plastic containers. Daily usage inevitably leads to high consumption of fossil resources and non-biodegradable materials. According to head of the VDS Jens J. Wischmann, developing alternatives will take a joint effort: “Of course that’s not an endeavour that our sector is directly involved in to any great extent. But even so, we need to be aware of the problem and encourage acceptance of the necessary changes on the broadest scale possible.”

Wellbeing: water as a connecting element for relaxing and regenerating

The desire to regenerate is a powerful need and has created a huge market for wellness-related products and services. The closely related concept of wellbeing focuses on mental and emotional aspects in addition to the physical dimension, and both wellness and wellbeing are of growing importance to consumers. Ideas and inspiration from the hospitality sector are increasingly being translated into private settings. Turning your own bathroom into a private spa comes with the promise of regenerative time out with health-promoting benefits – a little piece of luxury. Mindfulness, taking time for yourself, being active, a neat and tidy home, eating healthily, simplicity: the wellbeing trend stands for a lifestyle that doesn’t just seek relaxation but meaningful activities that increase contentment and make us happy as well. A Wellbeing Bathroom can play an important supporting role in all that – with both simple and highly complex products like a bathtub or whirlpool (for indoors or out), an infrared sauna or individually programmable showers, classic water applications, a clean aesthetic, smart products for therapeutic lighting and experience-enhancing multimedia features, or a personal space for health-promoting activities. A bathroom for wellbeing is a place where all the senses are alive or come alive – with water as the key element.

Tiny Bathroom: clever ideas for a compact bathroom

Even after corona, the urban lifestyle has lost nothing of its attractiveness. On the contrary: it seems as if our quality of life is more closely connected to the quality of our living environment than ever before. People are trying to compensate for a lack of space by upgrading their homes and implementing clever usage concepts. And especially when it comes to the bathroom, a golden rule applies: the more limited the space, the more important creative ideas are. The distinguishing characteristics of the Tiny Bathroom are a simple aesthetic, new, scaled-down product categories, smart solutions, comfort and convenience, as well as a high degree of customisation. The digitalised production of made-to measure components for the vanity unit, bathroom furniture or shower & Co. provides the necessary technical capabilities. At the same time, a Tiny Bathroom calls for a great deal of precision, as well as meticulous planning and workmanship.

Emotional Bathroom: the art of perfect staging

When it comes to the design quality of their bathroom, consumers’ requirements are growing all the time. The trades are increasingly playing the role of lifestyle consultants and interior design advisors. Because designing a bathroom doesn’t stop at installing water-carrying products: a growing number of experience-focused hi-tech products provide a toolbox for turning the bathroom into a space with high emotional value for its users. The focus is not, as it used to be, on the fascination of technology, but on the experience itself, as well as ease of use and personalisation options. That particularly applies to the lighting systems that are integrated into many bathroom products. Professional planning of the lighting ensures the bathroom is equipped for various uses. And a bathroom only truly becomes a private spa with a harmonious choice of colours and materials, perfectly staged accessories and well-coordinated sanitaryware.

Smart Living in the bathroom: apps and voice control simplify routines

Smart products for the bathroom are playing a growing role in making everyday life easier, more convenient and more interesting: a mirror that doubles as an information centre, smart controls for water applications (shower etc.), app-controlled shower toilets, water at the push of a button, UV-based hygiene functions, an intelligent lighting control system and touchless technologies – in the smart bathroom, such conveniences have long been more than visions of a faraway future. Once and for all, the growth market for smart living technologies has reached the bathroom as well.

Colours and materials for the walls and floor: upscale, colourful, sustainable and all over

ISH 2019 saw the return of colour to the bathroom and this trend development seems to have reached its zenith for now. Never before has such a huge variety of colours and materials been seen in bathroom design, with colour being very deliberately used as a design element. Even if far from inexpensive, sustainable plaster, seamless, all-over wall finishes, large-format tiles and decorative wallpapers are highly desirable elements for any modern bathroom. Besides on-trend shades of beige and green, bold but soft interpretations of yellow and red are increasingly making their way into the bathroom as well. Even fittings and accessories are embracing colour. Black is an evergreen trend phenomenon that is now being used either as the dominant element of the colour concept or as an accent colour for fittings and metal elements. And in the meantime, the general interior design trend towards matt finishes is making itself felt in the bathroom sector too, where the range of products with ultra matt surfaces is growing all the time – just one of many highlights in contemporary bathroom design.