Although these particular “22″ plugs from Bocci are custom made to be recessed into drywall for a shockingly classy presentation of the standard power outlet, there’s little reason someone with some dry wall skills and a good eye couldn’t do something similar with a standard housing. The perfectly round plugs help quite a bit, of course.
God forbid you ever need to rewire, though.
Bocci 22: The Outlet for Minimalists [Unplggd.com]
Update: Core77 has a nice video showing how it’s all made.
i’m actually pretty good with drywall, really good actually. that said, i think it would be nearly impossible to bury a standard double outlet in drywall and have it look good (or pass code).
i’d worried about: 1) keeping the wall clean near the socket (standard plates protect the wallboard and paint from dirty hands), 2) future servicability (how long will bocci be around?), 3) inconsistency (what if you need to use something bocci doesn’t make? current electrical components are wonderfully standard and usually look very good together).
they really do look fantastic though.
The main problem with this system is that if you need to get access to the junction box for whatever reason, you have to rip out the drywall.
They look pretty though.
You know what? They should sell these pre-installed in sections of dry wall. Seams are much easier to make look nice than installing one of these, I bet.
How would you transport the drywall from the hardware store to the building site? Each sheet of drywall would have a big junction box sticking out the backside of it. Or, think of why IKEA flat-packs their furniture.
Anyone ever tried plugging in a lamp in the dark? It would scratch the hell out of painted drywall if the plastic cover wasn’t there.
if you look carefully at this system on the http://www.bocci.ca site, you can see that they have invented a special remove key to eject the plug from the cover plate and allow access to the inside of the junction box. so, no harm to the drywall mud, simply release the component, rewire outside of the j box, then push the assembly back in. i also noticed these are UL and CSA approved. pretty smart.