TOTO’s New Luminist Lavatories

TOTO, which was founded in Japan in 1917 to produce toilets and other vitreous china products, has grown to be the world’s largest plumbing products company. Its Japanese roots demanded that TOTO always concern itself with Japan’s small domestic spaces and relative lack of resources. As a result, an ethic of sustainability and sensitivity to environmental concerns is part of its DNA, according to Dr. Lenora Campos, the spokesperson for TOTO USA. “Given our history, it’s no wonder that TOTO has been a pioneer in low-water-usage technology and design. “ In fact, it was in response to the early American demand for low water usage products that TOTO first entered the US market in 1989. With a 1.6 GPF toilet, TOTO pioneered the introduction of low-flush technology to the US. TOTO remains a leader in sustainable toilet technology today.

Eco-focused products led TOTO’s first US marketing efforts, but it has added more and more of its lines, which include every aspect of the bathroom, from commode to lavatory to water fixtures and accessories. Its in-house design team has been particularly active in recent years producing new entries in the premium bathroom segment. TOTO has just announced the US availability of a new product to emerge from this process: the remarkable Luminist line of under-counter lavatories.

Manufactured from a proprietary resin that is resplendently translucent, the Luminist bathroom sinks physically recede from the counter, but do anything but recede in the overall bathroom design. Because they transmit ambient light, the effect is of a floating world. This effect is magnified if the consumer chooses one of the LED-illuminated models, which use ultralow power electric lighting to enhance the sink’s luminescence, but still give the effect of ambient, natural light.

The hybrid epoxy resin from which they are made “combines the translucence of glass with exceptional resistance to impact, heat and staining,” according to Dr. Campos. The material releases no volatile vapors in the manufacturing process. And their possibilities within the bathroom design are exciting. Ideal for small spaces, “ where you really want something that stands out”; and for larger, Jack-and-Jill spaces, the LED-lit units “enable you to increase the lighting effect and create a sense of sophistication and drama.”

The Luminist line of lavatories, both naturally- and LED-lit, can be seen in installations at TOTO’s US Gallery (25 Mercer Street), and on its Web site TOTOusa.com. They have become enormously popular in Japan, and Dr. Campos and her colleagues believe that they will appeal to the US market even more.