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Cover Feature
Walk the Eco Walk
There’s a lot of talk about being environmentally friendly, but when it comes to kitchen design, what can you do to ensure your project is truly green? Lisa Burn reports
ECO
has been a buzz word for a number of years now but
what does it mean when it comes down to design, especially home design? Conserving natural resources and cutting our carbon footprint are priorities for the planet – and as buildings eat up so much in the way of fuel and water these are priorities architects, builders and planners are having to embrace. There are always people who push the boundaries – Sue Roaf’s Ecohouse in Oxford for example was the first in the UK to incorporate an integrated photovoltaic roof to maximise energy efficiency. More recently Yorkshire-based design and construction company LaROCK created 1 Zero 4, a five- bedroom home that functions using solar energy and rainwater harvesting, among other eco initiatives. (See Designer, July 2011).
But these are eco beacons in a sea of
regular builds, design icons that demand a considerable budget to create and more often than not, are out of reach of your
average householder. The key to spreading the sustainability message and driving the eco agenda, is to take elements from these environmentally-aware standard bearers and to incorporate them into ordinary homes. And what better place to start than in the kitchen, with its appetite for energy and water.
MATERIAL LONGEVITY According to Jane Stewart, Design Director at Mowlem & Co, one way to follow the eco code is to “create timeless designs that defy the ‘throwaway’ culture”, and to choose quality materials. “If you start from the basis of specifying
materials that will do what they are supposed to, superbly well and for a long time, and which can even be re-finished or repaired to extend their life cycles, then you are fulfilling one important aspect of the need for sustainability.” Mark Wilkinson, MD of Mark Wilkinson Furniture agrees. “We design pieces that
will remain aesthetically pleasing to future generations – classical rather than fashionable. This is very important to ensure the furniture will have a long life and to minimise its carbon footprint.” Wood is one example of a material that lasts and it has substantial environmental advantages, says Darren Morgan, owner of Designer Kitchen. “Trees are effectively carbon neutral because they bind Co2 through the natural process of photosynthesis,” he explains. “Using timber from sustainable forestry through to recycling unwanted products, is one of the cornerstones of reducing the impact that
DESIGNER TIPS
“In my job I am ripping out decent kitchens all the time so something I have gotten into recently is working with a company that recycles them. If I’m taking a kitchen out, the company makes an offer to the client for it. It is then reused elsewhere.”
Ruth Bond, Ruth Bond Interior Design
“Sustainability and environmental care is much more than buying from FSC sources. Our advice to anyone buying a kitchen is to ask their supplier about their environmental policy – if the supplier’s eyes sparkle and they talk for ages on the subject, showing lots of examples, the client can be pretty sure they are actually following eco-friendly processes, rather than just talking about it.”
Mark Wilkinson, Mark Wilkinson Furniture “When looking at sustainability , sourcing
materials locally will help. You could also have free standing units so that you can take them with you when you move.”
Gilly Read, Completion interior and space design specialists
Above: Bamboo is a fabulous eco-conscious material for creating a statement worktop,” says Graeme Smith, conceptual designer, PWS. “By exploiting the inherent characteristics of the graining and the unique layered composition of edge profile, stunning and individual designs can be created.”
Left: Recycled glass makes for an eco friendly worktop in this project by Ruth Bond Interior Design
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