Household toilets do exactly what you need them to do and have been around for centuries. You would think there’s not a whole lot more you could do when it comes to transforming the modern day toilet, however, one man has come up with a way to ‘reinvent’ the toilet.
A star of Channel 4 show Grand Designs has come up with a new design for toilets, making them moveable, more convenient and can save you some bathroom space.
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The toilet, which can fold up into a cupboard, was invented by Monty Ravenscroft, who first engineered the idea over a decade ago whilst caring for his father, Pelham, who suffered from vascular dementia during his final years.
Monty is probably best known for his exploits on Channel 4's Grand Designs, with Kevin McCloud, in Series 5 Episode 1 with the initiative glass sliding roof construction.
Mr Ravenscroft, 55, sought a way to make his bedridden father's bathroom routine more dignifying and ensure his toilet was close at hand but not constantly on show.
The Hidealoo folds away neatly using a swivel mechanism, offering the elderly and disabled the use of a private toilet that is convenient to them.
The retractable device also promises to revolutionise lavatories by freeing up space in small homes as it can be discreetly folded away into a cabinet, wall cavity or even a bedroom wardrobe to afford its user convenience at a moment's notice and free up extra space around the house.
The clever closet loo takes between two to three hours to install into existing plumbing, currently costs £1,125 - excluding installation fees.
Mr Ravenscroft, who is also a director and co-owner at architectural design company Meia, says his invention has also received interest from student accommodation providers and companies building emergency container homes providing temporary refuge to displaced people in places like Turkey and Syria, where devastating earthquakes recently left hundreds of thousands homeless.
"We have a big, steep learning curve in teaching people that the loo which has been static for nearly five hundred years can now start moving - bringing it into the 21st century.
"My dad was bedridden for the last few years of his life, which was quite indignifying, and I was trying to think of ways to make it more dignified… I have been inventing since I was a kid, and I decided to make my dad a loo that folded away,” he said.
He is reinventing the loo nearly 430 years after it was first introduced as he wanted to do something that is more relevant to the world and make better use of people’s home spaces.
“The loo is the same: it’s a normal loo pan - we simply move it. It's really secure. For most of us, the toilet is where we feel most vulnerable, so we had to make a really strong lock so it doesn’t move.
"If you think you pay for square feet of a property and then don’t use some of it, it’s just bananas,” he said.
The simply designed, 1.7m by 1.9m toilet can be installed to open to the left or right and built into an upstairs or downstairs bathroom, utility room, shower, cabinet or wardrobe.
The loo connects to existing plumbing or, for a temporary fix, can be fitted through a house's skirting boards.
Mr Ravenscroft said around 20 Hidealoos are already in use, saying: "One person is putting a Hidealoo in a bedside cabinet in her upstairs bedroom; another man is installing one for his disabled son so that it slides out underneath a washing machine...
"The alternatives for elderly people are nasty homes or really expensive, private stuff. If you can save all of that and stick a loo in their own house, then they can stay in their homes with their families,” he said.
Mr Ravenscroft added that the toilets are fully tested and predicted to last the user up to 60 years.
"We have done years of testing and getting all the appropriate patents," he explained.
“We tested it to 400 kilograms - it still didn’t break. Most toilet manufacturers only test them to 250 kilos.
"The oldest Hidealoo has been operational for six years and has been used more than a quarter of a million times."
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