The entry deadline for the 2021 Roca international jumpthegap design competition has been extended to 6 September.

Sponsored by the Spanish sanitary producer in collaboration with the Barcelona Design centre, jumpthegap calls on architects and designers around the globe to produce creative solutions for the bathroom space.

The 2021 edition is the first in the award’s 10-year history to require entrants to address and advance the goals set out by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The agenda is a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future” for all.

“The concept of ‘future’ has changed”, says Roca Group corporate marketing and design director Marc Viardot.

“There are new challenges brought about by the pandemic, while others are of growing and vital importance, such as preserving the planet, supporting its diversity or fighting inequalities.

“jumpthegap has evolved to respond more directly to these issues, searching for ideas that are technologically feasible, provide added value to innovation and show diversity, sustainability, timelessness and adaptability.”

The 2021 competition, which closes on 6 September, is divided into four new categories.

Wellness & Health calls for designs that deliver new levels of comfort and peace of mind, while [Un]neutral design seeks projects that “ingeniously and meaningfully” address body diversity.

The third, Water & Energy, promotes the conscious use of resources, while the final category, Crisis & Emergency, calls for “flexible, feasible and replicable” materials and technologies.

Entrants in the 2021 jumpthegap competition will be judged by a panel led by Japanese architect and 2014 Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban.

The winners will be revealed in a hybrid awards ceremony in Barcelona on 14 October 2021, during which 13 prizes will be awarded.

The winner of each category will take home a little over $3000, with $786 going to the 1^st and 2^nd runners up of each category

A grand prize of $7866 for the Best of the Best project will be awarded to one of the four winners.

Following the ceremony, Roca and the Barcelona Design centre will host a series of public roundtables and debates that explore innovative solutions for a more sustainable future and are set to feature the year’s finalists and winners.

Entries for the jumpthegap competition closes on 6 September 2021. To find out more and to enter visit www.jumpthegap.net.

Photography supplied.

Swiss sanitary company Laufen has been part of the Roca Group since 1999. We recently caught up with its Australian brand manager Dianna Hanna to chat about bathroom trends for 2021.