# Lixil Group

Lixil Group (Lixilグループ株式会社, Lixil Gurūpu kabushiki-kaisha) is a Japanese group of companies that manufactures building materials, plumbing fixtures and housing equipment, headquartered in Tokyo.
INAX (株式会社INAX, Kabushiki gaisha Inakkusu) is one of the major Lixil companies. Most of Lixil's plumbing fixtures are sold under the brand. Other Lixil companies include American Standard, Permasteelisa, Grohe, etc.

## History

The company was formed in 2011 by the merger of Tostem Corp. (a supplier of building materials), INAX (manufacturer of toilets and bathtubs), Shin Nikkei (maker of materials for skyscrapers), Sunwave (a kitchen company) and Toyo Exterior (manufacturer of gates and fences).
In the same year Lixil bought Permasteelisa, an Italian developer of curtain walls, for €575 million. Two years later Lixil bought American Standard Brands, a U.S. bathroom fixtures company for $542 million and in 2014 Grohe, the German bathroom fixtures company for €3.06 billion. It also started manufacturing in Andhra Pradesh, India.
On 6 November 2018, LIXIL announced a new partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to bring what could be the world's first "reinvented toilet" for household use to pilot in at least two markets. This stems from the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge.

## SaTo

Lixil markets water-saving toilets and related products under the brand "SaTo", short for "Safe Toilet". These products are marketed in various countries with plumbing infrastructure deficiencies, including Bangladesh, Uganda, Kenya, Haiti and India as of 2018.

## Sponsorships

Lixil is the sponsor of the Lixil Cup, awarded from 2014 to 2016 to the champion team from the finals of Japan's Top League, which the nation's highest level rugby union competition.
The company also sponsors tennis player Kei Nishikori, and was a sponsor of the 2020 Olympic Games.
Following their predecessor company Tostem Corp's longstanding shirt sponsorship of the J.League football club, the Kashima Antlers, Lixil has continued this shirt sponsorship since 2011, when the merger with Tostem occurred.

## Foundation

The LIXIL JS Foundation sponsors an annual architecture competition at universities (LIXIL International University Competition) to promote sustainable building technology. The student architecture prize is endowed with a total of $21,000. All houses are located in Taiki, Hokkaido.
| | title | university | architect | students | site management | structural engineer | general contractor |
| 2017 | | The Universita Indonesia | Mikhael Johanes | Lissa Christie, Lopez Surya, Nadia Amira, Kevin Romario | | | |
| 2016 | infinite field | Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts | Anders Brix | Kazumasa Takada, Bas Spaanderman, Scarlett Emma Hessian, Jesse Thomas, Benjamin Hock Yuu Tan, Konstantinos Fetsis | Kengo Kuma and Associates | Oak Structural Design | Takahashi Construction Company |
| 2015 | inverted house | Oslo School of Architecture and Design | Raphael Zuber, Neven Fuchs, Thomas McQuillan | Laura Cristea, Mari Hellum, Stefan Hurrell, Niklas Lenander | Kengo Kuma and Associates | Oak Structural Design | |
| 2014 | Nest We Grow | University of California | | Hsiu-Wei Chang, Fanzheng Dong, Hsin-Yu Chen, Yan Xin Huang, Baxter Smith, Max Edwards | Kengo Kuma and Associates | | |
| 2013 | Horizon House | Harvard University Graduate School of Design | Mark Mulligan, Thomas Sherman, Ana Garcia Puyol, Carlos Cerezo Davila | Carlos Cerezo Davila, Matthew Conway, Robert Daurio, Ana Garcia Puyol, Mariano Gomez Luque, Natsuma Imai, Takuya Iwamura, and Thomas Sherman | Kengo Kuma and Associates | | |
| 2012 | Même | | | | | | |
| 2011 | barn house | Keio University Japan | Saikawa Takumi, Sano Satoshi, Eureka Architects und Co+Labo | Millica Muminović, Hashida Wataru, Shinohara Masato, Kato Yoshiaki, Sasamura Yoshihiro mit Darko und Vuk Radović, Komatsu Katsuhito, Kobayashi Kosuke, Kanemaru Mayumi | Kengo Kuma Architecture Associates, Komatsu Katsuhito | | |