HVAC
However, the continued development of innovative materials like Dekton and man-made quartz overcomes those challenges, whilst increasing design choice and ensuring a stain-resistant, scratch-resistant and UV- resistant surface – perfect for busy front of house designs.
Now, as kitchen design, build and installation partners, we have the option to provide our customers with aesthetically-pleasing counters in any colour – without compromising on the flexibility or performance requirements mentioned above.
Sustainable solutions Another key trend in catering design – and indeed across catering as a whole, as with any sector – is sustainability. Design projects have to be environmentally-friendly, not only to satisfy increasing customer and end user demands, but to meet standards too.
With greater sustainability targets placed on new buildings in particular, many of the projects we are working on in the current climate have been designed to meet recognised standards such as UK’s BREEAM from the Building Research Establishment or America’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), from the US Green Building Council.
LEED is available for virtually all building types and international ownership and/or investment often dictates that is the standard to work towards. It provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings, taking into account every aspect of the project including the individual products specified for
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interiors. And with this in mind, sustainable materials will inevitably support the scoring system.
We’ve recently specified a material called Krion from Porcelanosa on a large project in London, which is similar to natural stone but with added features including easy cleaning and maintenance, non-porosity and high resistance to impacts and temperatures.
However, one of the real points of difference is the sustainable performance of Krion for worktops and counter tops. No energy is used during the manufacturing process, known as natural casting, to reduce the carbon footprint of the product, and the material is recyclable - it can be redesigned and reused to support a circular economy approach.
In an increasingly environmentally-conscious sector, this is a huge advantage and will only become more prevalent.
Keeping up with trends In summary, trends are changing at a quicker pace than ever before. Standards have raised in B&I settings to keep up with – and in many cases, outperform - the high street and help keep customers on site. And counter tops have an important role to play in creating the catering environments that can enable that.
Expect to see technology and designs evolving further to provide the flexibility, aesthetics and sustainable performance needed to meet demand.
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