Gary Uhl has a sensitive finger on the trending pulse of the bathroom fixture business. As a leader of the savvy design team at American Standard, he brings stylish verve to the insights emerging from an industry known for conservatism. Toilets may not elicit thoughts of bold initiatives and fundamental societal shifts, but there’s real change brewing behind that WC door.
The team at adroyt was invited this week to participate in a tour of the company’s headquarters in Piscataway, New Jersey by Nora DePalma of O’Reilly/DePalma, their public relations firm. Our inside look behind the scenes of the manufacturer’s creative process was quite interesting, surprisingly intriguing, and, yes, often humorous. The stories behind the fixtures that are an integral (and intimate) part of our everyday lives are fascinating in their depth of implication.
As the tour began, Gary pontificated about the changing perception of luxury in the home, with respect to bathroom location. Whereas recently the aspiration was simply to have an equal number of bathrooms as bedrooms in the residence, they are now being combined en suite, so that every bedroom has its own private bathroom. With much of recent construction consisting of remodeling and retrofitting within existing and perhaps limited areas, there’s a need for smaller fixture footprints and a sense of spaciousness. American Standard is meeting this need by developing more compact designs that deliver high function and style all the while maintaining a comfortable ambience in tight quarters. Grace under pressure, you might say!
American Standard has been around for over 130 years but the company is committed to staying on the forefront of technical innovation, resource conservation, and stylish interpretation. Our exploration of their research and development facility bears this out in spades; we’ll never look at a toilet the same way ever again. Our thanks to the passionate and knowledgable team at American Standard for the enlightenment and to our host Nora DePalma for the keys to the metaphorical executive washroom!
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