As part of a study tour conducted by Roca Group – with brands Roca and Laufen – nine guests embarked on a week-long voyage across multiple European destinations. 

In March 2025, a select group of Australian architects and designers took part in a seven-day European study tour hosted by leading bathroom specialists Roca and Laufen. 

Roca Group is a global leader in the design, production and marketing of bathroom products for architecture, construction and interior design. Founded in Barcelona in 1917, the company combines tradition and expertise with a passion for innovation and respect for the environment, with the aim of anticipating people’s needs and contributing to the improvement of societal well-being.

Spanning four extraordinary cities – London, Vienna, Gmunden and Basel – at the start of the European spring, Roca Group’s exclusive tour offered a behind-the-scenes look at design innovation and exquisite cultural heritage.

Products on display inside Laufen Space, Vienna

The tour’s attendees, including Mirvac senior associate Anita Tyler, Design JLL associate director Richard Healy, Lendlease national design manager June Lo, Cox Architecture associate Anthea Leyden,  Morris Property Group senior development manager Sam Stubbings and DKO senior associate Isabel Munro, were given a rare opportunity to engage with European design philosophies while forging long-lasting industry connections. 

Inside the Laufen factory tour

The first leg: London to Vienna 

The tour kicked off in high style, with a vivacious welcome in the form of cocktails, an audience for the Lion King musical and then rooftop dining at Sushi Samba. The following day revolved around the Zaha Hadid-designed Roca London Gallery, where guests received valuable insights into the company’s global design vision and sustainability strategies.

Touring the Zaha Hadid-designed Roca London Gallery

From the English capital to the Austrian capital, guests were flown to Vienna for a cultural immersion in the best European arts and fine dining at Restaurant Meierei, followed by a concert of works by Haydn at the Musikverein.

Next steps: Gmunden and Basel

The next leg of the trip took the study tour to Gmunden, situated 235 kilometres east of Vienna, where group members were invited to the unique Klo & So ceramics museum. Here, they explored the Laufen Space before travelling to the nearby Laufen factory, an engineering and design marvel nestled in the lush Austrian countryside.

Richard Healy enjoys a hands-on ceramics casting experience at the Roca Group and Laufen tour

The tour’s final leg took the group to Basel, Switzerland, where a hands-on ceramics casting experience and a comprehensive factory walkthrough – including a close look at the site’s world-exclusive solar-powered electric kiln – brought the tour to a brilliant conclusion. 

A glamorous farewell dinner at Basel’s Volkshaus saw the tour’s final night wrap up in grand style.

Visiting the Klo Museum tour in Gmunden

What the tour group had to say

According to JLL associate director Richard Healy, the week was an immersive deep dive into the Roca Group and Laufen brands.

“Two major highlights stood out for me,” he says. “First, the Gmunden factory: seeing the electric kiln in person embodied everything I had heard about innovation and the company’s sustainability vision. Second, our last day in Laufen, experiencing the casting and moulding process, gave me a better understanding of the process and the high level of craftsmanship that goes into each piece.” 

Getting a closer look at the site’s exclusive solar-powered electric kiln

COX Architecture associate director Anthea Leyden called the tour a “first-class experience with a world-class company”.

“It was amazing to see the hand-crafted and tailored approach to their products, and dining with key stakeholders who have true longevity in their roles and have discussions about their passion for the company and people,” Leyden says.

COX’s Anthea Leyden called the tour a “first-class experience with a world-class company”.

DKO senior associate Isabel Munro added that experiencing Roca Group and Laufen firsthand at their European showrooms and factories was a masterclass in the harmony of sustainability, craft and design. 

“Seeing the passion and precision of the artisans who bring these products to life reaffirmed that great design is not just about aesthetics, but about the people, the process and the purpose behind it,” she says.

Photography supplied by Roca Group.

Related: View Laufen’s Val SaphirKeramik collection with Konstantin Grcic here.