Winner
Aqualisa Quartz Shower System
Client
Aqualisa Products
Design consultancy
Seymour Powell

The brief
Aqualisa, founded in 1977, make specialist shower systems. Customer research carried out in 1999 indicated their products could benefit from considerable improvements. There were four main requests: products should be easier to install, better looking, easier to use and safer.

Aqualisa had previously worked with design consultancy Seymour Powell to develop a new mechanism that separated the flow and heating control mechanisms away from the main shower area. In order to use this new ‘control box’ system to best effect, Seymour Powell were commissioned to develop a new shower system which fulfilled the four criteria demanded by customers.

The design
Seymour Powell looked at all elements of selecting, installing and using a new shower system, concluding that as the cost of a new installation was often equivalent to refurbishing an entire bathroom, a system with minimal impact would be best.

The new Quartz system exploits the potential of the control box, allowing far more flexibility when it comes to installing a new shower – less disruption and destruction both for control system and pipework. Quartz is not just practical – it’s also stylish. The consumer-facing elements of the new design, such as the user-friendly new control dial and simple on/off button to create greater temperature control, have an attractive chromed finish, making the system a primary choice for the increasingly style-conscious home improvement market.

The results
• The Quartz system was launched in May 2001. Since that time it has generated over £10m worth of revenue for Aqualisa, with sales value more than doubling year on year.
• Quartz’s control box system has reduced typical installation time from two days to half a day, helping to convert competitive installers to the Aqualisa brand.
• Quartz has become Aqualisa’s best-selling product, accounting for 27% of annual revenue as of June 2003.
• Quartz has not only increased Aqualisa’s market volume by 5.8%, it has increased the company’s market value by 6.3%.