As any visitor to ISH exhibitions in Frankfurt will attest, Hansgrohe is one of the world’s great bathroom brands and a recognised innovator.

One of its more recent innovation successes is its air power technology that mixes water and air in showerheads. In fact the company has been working on reduced-flow shower technology for over 20 years.

Introduced in 2001, the ibox universal is still the first and only universal basic set for all standard and thermostat solutions. It can be connected to several different attachments and is easy to install.

With the ibox universal, Hansgrohe offers a flexible concealed installation system which allows a basic unit built into the wall to be connected to various different faucet finish sets.

Dr Nicholas Matten is the sales director for Western Asia, Japan and Oceania, the managing director Hansgrohe India and is the manager for Oceania. He explains that the ibox is a central water connection hub for in-wall installation.

“A concealed installation will provide you with more space in a small bathroom, because flush mounting means a less intrusive finish, leaving more room to move around. Also, the aesthetics are much better than exposed mixers, as the technical parts remain concealed.”

The ibox offers simplicity, diversity and ease of installation for the plumber and maximum finish options for the consumer.

The product came to be as Klaus Grohe, the son of founder Hans Grohe, saw the need for a universal in-wall unit which would make it easy for plumbers to install various shower and bath options.

“Klaus is always driven by innovations that add value to the customer and are not just for innovation's sake, as is too often the case,” Dr Matten says.

The ibox, which has now been released in Australia, faced some resistance at first due to the 150mm face plate. However, Australians are now starting to warm to the product, appreciating the European design and functionality.

“The unique property of ibox is that a wide variety of finish sets, both Hansgrohe and Axor, fit on to the ibox universal so bathroom finishes can easily be replaced, changed or upgraded over time as bathroom trends evolve,” Dr Matten explains.

“Also it is technically a far superior solution to many competitive offerings, as it has lower noise levels and provides for optimum protection against any water leaks.”

The uptake of the ibox universal is starting to gain traction and has been specified for a range of building projects including the Aquavita apartments in Port Melbourne, the Tribeca apartments in East Melbourne, Yoo apartments in Sydney and the Hilton Hotel Sydney.

Builders and plumbers are finding the simplicity of the design provides many advantages.

“You only need to keep one concealed installation basic set in stock,” Dr Matten says. “There is one basic set for nine different functional solutions and one basic set for all Axor and Hansgrohe faucet lines. One basic set fits all installation systems, connection types and fittings.

“The valuable finish set, which contains all functional parts, is fixed at the last moment, protecting the builder from any damage due to dirty piping or theft during construction.

While it is easy to install, homeowners also reap the rewards as they can decide at the last moment whether to have a shower mixer, thermostat or shower panel installed in the shower. This is because the basic and functional units can be purchased, installed and mounted separately from one another.

“Planning certainty is an added benefit in addition to design and functional variety.”

The ibox universal prevents in-wall leakage and is soundproof. ibox is simple to install and requires no special training as housing usually has ample fixation points that can be used in solid brick, dry wall and timber constructions.