How we combined premium aesthetics and engineering to create the ultimate hygienic washroom.
- Thrislington Cubicles Ltd
Sector
- Industrial
Services
- Industrial Design
- User-Centred Design
- Design Development
- Mechanical Engineering
- Detail Design
- Design for Manufacture
- Prototyping
Awards
- Best of NeoCon – Silver 2022
- Interior Design HIP 2022 Finalist
Project
- Flow Touchless
Flow Touchless is the ultimate hygienic washroom solution – a sophisticated design statement that seamlessly blends electronics, mechanics and aesthetics into a complete system.
Thrislington Cubicles Ltd have been building the world’s best toilet cubicles since the 1960’s. Their elegant Flow product is installed in some of the newest architecturally unique buildings around the world. Ever innovative, Thrislington Cubicles Ltd approached Bluefrog Design to design and engineer a touchless automated door system to complement and enhance their Flow range.
Our human-centred industrial design solution combines style and practicality, with fully integrated hand proximity sensors for touchless access and automated locking for security during use. LED indicators mounted within the fascia allow discrete visual aids to occupancy.
Flow Touchless is the ultimate hygienic washroom solution – a sophisticated design statement that seamlessly blends electronics, mechanics and aesthetics into a complete system. This award-winning product design complements contemporary architectural trends and improves hygiene for all users. As Thrislington Cubicles Ltd say, ‘It’s not quite magic, just perfect engineering’.
The Journey
The engineering in opening and closing a door is, at first glance, a relatively straightforward task. However, in order to design a system that was completely integrated and fully configurable, variables were considered that could impact on performance.
The Flow range includes cubicles made of composite, timber based and glass doors. The gearbox therefore needed to work consistently across all weights up to 75KGs, as well as enabling build considerations for left or right hand, inward or outward hinging doors.
Additionally, it was necessary to explore user behaviour in washroom facilities, considering such elements as the speed at which individuals open a door, force used, unconscious movements between entering and closing, and allowing for adults of varying sizes, children and accessibility concerns. These human focused variables affect electronic and software considerations and were vital to make the system as intuitive as possible.
To mitigate risk multiple prototypes were created throughout the design process, testing fundamentals of the mechanism, electronics, software, motor and gearbox, as well as to align with user interactions. Pre-production prototypes were then deployed for comprehensive real-life testing, ensuring the system met an operational requirement of over 100,000 cycles, equivalent to a 5-year period in a medium use washroom.
The Outcome
The result is Flow Touchless, a refined and discrete product that is easy to install without impacting the building infrastructure, with each sensor placement adaptable to suit the cubicle design.
Software allows the installer to adjust response times, provides reporting functions to streamline cleaning and maintenance, can respond in emergencies and is future proofed to meet evolving needs.
For the user, the human centric design merges performance, ergonomics and function seamlessly, creating a completely hygienic washroom solution that elevates the experience of a fundamental necessity. The fully configurable sensors for touchless open and closure, clear LED indicators and an assistance button are intuitive and simple to use.
Bluefrog Design has applied for international patents on behalf of Thrislington Cubicles Ltd. The Flow Touchless was launched at the Big 5 Construction Show in Dubai in September 2021, received Best of NeoCon 2022 Silver and were finalists in the Architectural Products Category at the Honoring Industry People & Product (HIP) awards for Interior Design.
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