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United by their common heritage of sustainable brand values, craftsmanship and industry-leading design, GROHE and Mosa are partnering to celebrate the return of Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW) with a series of events that showcase the movement towards a sustainable, circular future.

The companies will host a programme of talks, CPDs and gatherings at the Mosa showroom on St. John’s Street in the heart of the Clerkenwell design district. The highlights include an exclusive evening with Cradle-to-Cradle founder Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, talks exploring ways in which industry forces can incorporate circularity into their projects, and a spectacular conclusion of the week with a closing party celebrating Mosa and GROHE’s Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold achievements.

Register to attend

In this week's interview with SBID Awards Product Design judge and Associate at SHH, Tony Duesbury discusses the nuances of designing for commercial and residential spaces. He shares his insights on designing guest experiences and how hybrid ways of working are changing the interior design scene.

Belgravia House 2017 - Conservatory

How does interior design help to curate greater guest experiences within the hospitality industry?

Every hospitality project is unique and a distinct design narrative allows the opportunity to curate a guest experience. Interior design can help generate interest by creating “a narrative” that helps people engage with the space and learn more about where they arrived creating a ‘sense of place’. This placemaking curates the experience and makes the guest experience more personal.

We have done this in a recent brasserie where the details of the wall panelling took inspiration from the 1970’s façade of the building that was removed, enabling the staff and guests to talk about where the interior inspiration came from. This design curation helps discussion and the engagement between staff and customer to enable a unique personal experience.

Latitude Brasserie

When considering the future of the built environment, how do you incorporate sustainable design principles into your projects, from design to procurement?

Our priority when considering the future of the built environment is to look at all aspects of the environmental issues that may affect a particular project and determine what best fits the project. Whether it is creating more greening, checking the carbon footprint of materials procured or considering the MEP to be implemented. As a first step towards achieving that we will look into forming collaborations with consultants and suppliers who have a relevant approach that is beneficial to the process. We will look at individual suppliers and the principles they have in sourcing and manufacturing their materials. Buying local materials and finding unique local craftsmanship within the project vicinity is obviously a huge consideration in order to reduce the transportation carbon footprint.

When it comes to product specification, how does your approach differ between commercial and residential spaces? What are your key considerations?

The selection of materials will be different when it comes to addressing a residential project compared to a commercial project. This is due to two aspects, firstly, cost is a huge factor in. Residential schemes are led more by the heart, whereas commercial projects are led more by the purse. Secondly, it’s about the traffic of a space. Residential schemes can have more luxurious materials that don’t need to take the same wear and tear that commercial projects do. The high footfall in commercial projects, however, means that the durability of the base palette has to have longevity and accents that are easily replaced can have that more luxurious touch.

Kai Tak - commercial
Surrey Estate - residential

With new consumer lifestyles and hybrid ways of working, how do you see the design of workspaces evolving in the coming years?

This is something like everyone we have been keeping an eye on as it is an evolving discussion that has yet to settle and likely to be a debate for years to come. Most recently the hybrid way of working has changed by introducing more technological elements that enable a seamless change from working at home and then back in the office. The largest shift is really going to be about creating staff retention by giving those unique offerings within the public office space to engage people to want to be in the office. For instance, in a recent project we have been looking at weaving in the local community and creating more opportunities for social interaction. Additional opportunities for offering amenities within communal space benefits peoples busy life styles and will have an increase in staff retention. As well as a way of attracting new talent.

Sipside

Finally, what advice can you give to designers entering the SBID Awards?

My advice would be to remain very concise about their design proposal and communicate all aspects of the idea, story and design detail as clear as possible. It is important that the descriptive narrative conveys the same message as the visual design and both are coherent with each other.

Surrey Estate

Questions answered by Tony Duesbury, Associate, SHH.

Tony Duesbury

Created in 1991 by David Spence, Graham Harris and Neil Hogan, SHH is an award winning Chartered Architectural and Interior Design practice working globally and based in London.
SHH is vastly experienced at working across sectors – Residential, Hospitality and Commercial, and across disciplines – Architecture, Interior Design and FF&E. We offer a multifaceted, entirely bespoke design service, focused around achieving the best possible end result.

We are all increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability in every aspect of our lives – and lifestyles. Sustainable development in design is no exception. So, we asked the team at Mark Taylor Design to discuss this further:

The concept can be interpreted in many different ways. But we like the clarity of the Brundtland Report’s definition: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” To achieve this, planning and preparation is key. Accordingly, we are seeing a huge demand for sustainable design services, as more and more clients prioritise sustainable development goals for their homes.

Size, location, layout, insulation and lighting are all key elements of sustainable development and design. Maximising light and space, and minimising energy expenditure, are key client priorities.

The rise of sustainable design

There are many reasons why sustainable development/design has become so important. First and foremost, it helps to lower negative impacts on the environment, and improves building performance. It minimises waste. It improves the value of your property – and, crucially, creates a healthy and productive environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly shone a spotlight on the importance of being more thoughtful about ourselves and our environment. It has also transformed how we view our homes – and what we want from them. Fortunately, this sea of change has coincided with an increase in the quality and quantity of sustainable designs available, both inside and out.

‘Opening up’ spaces and maximising the natural light available with high-performance windows is an obvious, yet highly effective way, to introduce sustainable development elements to a project. Project collaboration with Holland Green Architecture and Interior Design.

New expectations

The events of the past 18 months or so have had a profound effect on home design. There's no doubt we have changed the way we live – and the way we want to live. After all, they say that necessity is the mother of invention. “I think that people have learnt to become more self-sufficient, largely because they have had to!”, explains our director Mark Taylor. “People have also reallocated their budgets. Foreign holidays might not have been possible, yet renovations have skyrocketed. Then, of course, there’s the working from home phenomenon. This has prompted people to use their properties very differently; this is not just in terms of adding another room or a home office in the garden.”

Working from home has definitely made us much more aware of the space we have, and how best to use it. It has prompted many people to finally get round to home improvements which have long been languishing on the back-burner. In turn, trades have become so busy it’s now difficult to get renovation projects complete without booking well in advance.

A rise in pet ownership has led to demand for different areas such as this boot room, which houses the dog, and provides a handy additional storage area too.
Sustainable design should suit your lifestyle. Some clients want open spaces and others need rooms that adapt as needed. A door that slides back to reveal a hidden bar offers the best of both worlds!

Family and wellbeing

Done properly, sustainable development isn’t just good for the environment, it enhances personal wellbeing too. Spending so much more time at home and with loved ones during the pandemic has led to a marked recalibration of priorities. Many people have reassessed the importance of family life, health and happiness and have made changes to their home accordingly. This might include creating space to decompress, and changing lighting and colours. Another key development is the rise in pet ownership. This had led to the creation of more/different spaces in which to accommodate them, such as boot rooms and utility areas.

Sustainable development is a win for the environment, your personal and professional lifestyle – and your wallet. Updating your interiors, installing a new kitchen or bathroom, or even adding another room such as a properly insulated orangery, can all add significant value to your property. Before you proceed, however, it’s important to identify your key objectives. For some people, a sustainable design project is all about ‘opening up’ existing space. For others, the priority is to create more rooms, to accommodate multi-generational living and working from home. Design professionals can best advise how to do both, for example, by creating hidden break-out spaces, sliding doors, and so on.

Clever design and planning make the most of every inch of space – inside and out. Here our MeThD custom range incorporates a versatile movable island to enhance connectivity between the kitchen and the garden.

Sustainable materials

Many synergistic elements combine when creating and implementing a successful sustainable development interiors project. These include factors such as size, location, layout, insulation, lighting and energy. The use of sustainable materials has also become increasingly popular, as clients become more aware of the environment and climate change – which has been hugely publicised throughout the pandemic. With so many of us working from home over the past 18 months, there was a considerable decrease in global emissions. This in turn has made us all question what else we can do to help. Popular design trends include carpets made from recycled plastics, concrete work surfaces, large sheets of recycled ocean plastics converted into work surfaces and wall coverings, and eco paints.

Graphenstone has a great range of ‘green’ paints and coatings. This eco-friendly range of products includes natural elements that help to purify the air we breathe inside our homes. It’s recommended for indoor enclosures, hospitals, nurseries, retirement homes, hotels, environments and rooms for babies and children. It’s also suitable for people suffering from chemical intolerances. Their paints even help limit pathogens derived from Sick Building Syndrome and prevent the growth of mould, fungi and bacteria.

High quality, recycled and recyclable plastic is another sustainable material we are incorporating into many of our new kitchen designs. The Good Plastic Company aims to transform waste into beauty. In fact, its unique technology re-uses up to 75% of existing types of plastic. It uses post-industrial and post-consumer plastic waste to create stylish, modern wall panels, shelving and storage.

Eco-friendly paints, such as Graphenstone, are enjoying a huge boom in sales, as more and more people prioritise sustainable development and interior design. Graphenstone products are made from natural elements (and even the packaging is 100% recycled and recyclable). Graphenstone lime paints are carbon-neutral and ensure walls can breathe. As the paint cures over its lifetime, it can absorb up to 5.5kg of CO2 per 15 litres from the local environment where it’s applied.

Back to the future

Looking ahead, we think sustainability will continue to be a key theme within home décor. Recycling has become far more popular and prominent. Many people are now thinking of clever and unusual ways to upcycle and recycle, in order to minimise waste and be kinder to the environment. We also think smart homes will go much further than simply featuring stand-alone devices. They will provide greater insights into energy use that will allow us to become more energy-efficient and mindful of ecological factors.

All the senses will become increasingly important. Clients are becoming more conscious of how sound, textures and lighting affect mood and productivity. It was interesting to see that designing for wellbeing was a common theme at Decorex. We noticed nature and biophilic design principles have inspired many companies and brands. Wallpapering a whole room – as opposed to a token feature wall – seems to be back on-trend. Also, beautiful texture wallpapers are now featuring eye-catching pops of colour. There is definitely a shift towards warmer and more welcoming textures and patterns. Gone are the days of grey schemes. Colour is definitely back and here to stay.

About Mark Taylor Design

Mark Taylor Design is a British manufacturer of superlative bespoke furniture, cabinetry, specialist joinery and Interior Design. Our passion is to make spaces work – to create extraordinary spaces which are as personally relevant to their users as possible.

If you’d like to feature your product news here, get in touch to find out more. 

If you’d like to become SBID Accredited, click here for more information.

In this week's interview with SBID Awards Product Design judge and Director of Design at IHG, Henry Reeve talks about the most important design and functional aspects of hotel interiors, key product specifications that influence choice and shares his personal sources of inspiration.

How can interior design influence greater guest experiences in hotel environments?

Good Interior Design I feel can make or break a guest experience. You need both form and function, yes of course we want to wow our guests with incredible atmospheres rich in detail and finesse but there is little point creating a spectacular environment if the space just doesn’t ‘work’. It's easy to create that spaces that impress but are poorly equipped or ill-thought through and don’t accommodate guests needs and functions. I think one of the most important aspects of hospitality interior design is to ensure our guest don’t ever feel stupid. Our guests are in an unfamiliar environment, and we want them to feel at home, to relax and unwind. Designs must be intuitive, how many times has one had to desperately search for the light switch, or struggle to find a plug socket or worse cant find the wardrobe!

How do you approach product specification for hospitality projects? What are your key considerations?

Specifying product particularly recently has become even more tricky,  there is a wealth of options out there but so many factors go towards influencing choice, yes of course shape and form but external factors are now more than ever influencing specification, lead times, environmental impact, over-use and of course cost are playing a huge role.

Hotel Indigo Bath

Why is product innovation so essential for the interior design sector, and how can we expect the relationship between manufacturers and designers to evolve going forward?

Constant innovation is mandatory in this sector, the world is moving fast and constantly looking to what’s next. Environmental factors are becoming ever more influential on both consumer choices and economic too. I feel this will become in time a far more important aspect of specification than it perhaps once was. Product life-cycle too is something I am interested to see how the wider industry addresses, how is product recycled/re-used when coming to the end of its life?

QO Hotel

What inspires you both professionally and personally?

Inspiration comes from anywhere, but I must admit that Travel is certainly one source of inspiration to me that I am thrilled is now possible once again. To experience how different cultures use spaces opens ones eyes to new possibilities.

Finally, what advice can you give to designers entering the SBID Awards?

Put your best work forward, ensure photography is exemplar and try to explain your work in a succinct way. I look forward to seeing some wonderful entries!

Questions answered by Henry Reeve, Director of Design, IHG.

I’m Director of Design at InterContinental Hotels Group focusing on Kimpton and Hotel Indigo. Previously I was Associate Director at forpeople, and a Creative Director and Designer at a number of guest experience, retail, and event agencies based across London. I have worked for clients as diverse as Nike, Lotus, Peugeot, Mulberry, Bollinger, Pfizer, Coca-Cola & McDonalds. I trained as a Mechanical Engineer at Bristol University and as a Designer at Central Saint Martins, in my spare time I love to make things.

Leading supplier of solid surface materials and complementary products, CDUK, has launched sustainable material PaperStone® to the UK and Ireland markets.

PaperStone® is a new generation sustainable material, made from recycled paper with natural resin, the surface has a unique, textured effect creating an organic warmth, which can be specified in a range of natural hues and tones. Selected colours are produced from 100% FSC recycled paper and cardboard.

Application and use

This environmentally friendly product is ideal for architects and designers looking for a sustainable solution and is well suited to interiors across the commercial, office, space, hospitality, residential and healthcare sectors. PaperStone® offers specifiers the opportunity to reconnect people with the natural world through design, with its tactile warmth and hint of texture this surface material is beautifully unique.

Its composition delivers high performance across a range of applications. These include but are not limited to bars and tabletops, furniture, vertical decorative wall panels, washrooms, kitchen worksurfaces and cabinet doors, and washrooms.

Andy Noble, Divisional Managing Director, CDUK, commented: “We are thrilled to be the sole supplier of PaperStone® to the UK and Ireland market. At CDUK we have seen a real shift in the market with customers becoming more environmentally conscious. PaperStone® offers our clients a sustainable solution to their design needs. At CDUK we are constantly looking at ways to innovate and expand our offer and grow with our customers. The launch of PaperStone® marks a significant stage in our development and we are excited to help our customers make the most of this unique product.”

Manufacturing process and specifications

The surface material is manufactured using FSC certified recycled paper and natural petroleum free phenolic resin with natural pigments and has obtained important environmental certifications from the Forest Stewardship Council and qualifies for bio-building use and assignment of LEED® credits.

PaperStone® is impact resistant and hard wearing, resisting temperatures up to180° without showing any superficial changes while being water and stain resistant and easy to clean. The versatile nature of the material makes it a cost-efficient solution for a range of interior applications and can be cut and engraved depending on customers’ needs.

PaperStone® colours are warm and rich, reflecting nature often with a soft and subtle variegated finish, with eleven colours across two ranges. The Solid Colour Series includes five deep, rich organic colours. Some of these colours ‘evolve’ over time mellowing and growing with their environment to become more intense and warmer. The Designer Series has more of a geological than organic finish, with 6 lighter colours.

PaperStone® is available exclusively from CDUK in the UK and Ireland from 4th October 2021. The range includes 11 colours in a range of thicknesses selected based on our understanding of our key markets and knowledge of latest colour, texture and design trends.

About CDUK

CDUK is a supplier of surface materials and complementary products to the specification market in the UK and Ireland, including architects, interiors designers, kitchen designers, fabricators and contractors. Having built a strong reputation as the exclusive distributor of Corian® Solid Surface in the UK and Ireland, CDUK now offers an extended range of services as well as products from a number of leading brands.
We are a family owned business with over 40 years’ experience. We support our customers through a journey, as their design partner, from sourcing the best products and materials to helping them unlock their full potential through expert advice and technical knowledge. Our team of industry experts also provides technical advice, sampling and bespoke training courses for designers, manufacturers and fabricators.

If you’d like to feature your product news here, get in touch to find out more. 

If you’d like to become SBID Accredited, click here for more information.

In this week's interview with SBID Awards Product Design judge, Maria Vafiadis discusses the compatibility of luxury design and sustainability, addresses the unique challenges between designing private residences and hotels, and shares her views on repurposing in the industry.

The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Navarino

How would you define luxury today? Is it compatible with sustainability?

The luxury experience today is defined by space and how this space encourages us to make time for rejuvenation. This is one reason why many resorts and hotels are choosing to create standalone villas, cottages and treehouses where guests can quietly share time with family and friends and engage with the natural world.

Our new luxury values are increasingly compatible with sustainability. Government regulation, the marketability of eco-destinations, consumer demand and evidence that guests will pay a premium for experiences that respond to environmental and local community issues are coming together in a union which is already having an impact on hospitality. We are seeing a new, more thoughtful attitude to what luxury means together with a growing desire among owners and consumers to be better custodians of our planet’s resources.

Matild Palace Budapest, a Luxury Collection Hotel - lobby lounge

How different are your priorities when you are designing a private residence versus a hotel?

My single focus when designing a private residence is the owner and his/her family. It is all about the owner’s aspiration and the family’s way of life, and the end result should reflect their personalities. By contrast, hotel design has several parties to please – the owner, the operator and, of course, the guest. As a hotel designer, it’s key to create a narrative as the wellspring for the guest experience while you also have to respond to an array of commercial and operational realities.

W hotel, Costa Navarino Beachfront

In your opinion, which offers the more interesting design opportunity – renovating a much-loved historic hotel or creating a new one?

It depends so much on the client and their aspiration; we have had amazing experiences working on both. Take for example Costa Navarino in Greece. It’s difficult to believe now but when we began our work on this resort it was no more than a bold vision to achieve a luxury destination which would celebrate the heritage and natural world of Messinia. It felt truly meaningful to work from a blank slate and create a new hospitality benchmark in the region.

Several years later, we were appointed on the recreation of The Burgenstock Resort in Switzerland. In its heyday, this had been a glamorous and pioneering destination and it was our task to take this legacy forward into a new era. This was a project that involved repurposing, refurbishment, extensions and new buildings. Its strapline ‘The Future has a Past’ was fascinating to honour and reflect in our work.

I must admit that I do enjoy delving into the past, discovering what was there and helping it to flourish again by combining the old and the new. We have just had a wonderful opportunity to do this in creating Matild Palace Budapest, a Luxury Collection Hotel. The lifestyle of the Archduchess of Austria who commissioned the original building was our inspiration and we wove our narrative around her imagined presence in the new hotel.

Burgenstock Hotel - guestroom

What are your priorities in making FF&E selections for your projects?

We love to work with artisanal and locally sourced products and, since sustainability is high on our agenda, we are always interested in re-purposed items. We believe in the inherent beauty of natural materials, tactility and in products that are well-made – longevity of things is one of the greatest gifts we can bestow on our planet.

Matild Palace Budapest, a Luxury Collection Hotel, guestroom

You have recently published a book called Design Alchemist. What was the thinking behind this title?

At MKV, we believe in the power of design to affect behaviour and elicit emotion. This requires design that combines location, culture, history and modern life in any number of contextual stories which we tell. When they come together in the right balance for the particular project, alchemy results and a kind of chemistry is released between the space and its users.

Cover image: Alpine Spa, Burgenstock Resort

Questions answered by Maria Vafiadis, Founder & Managing Director, MKV Design.

MKV Design's mission is to create environments that deliver on every level. Aesthetic, practical, commercial, experiential. We achieve this by applying intelligence to design. By developing a personal vision for every project, setting the most uncompromising standards and working side by side with our clients to bring that vision to life. It’s an approach that has cemented our reputation as world-class designers of luxury hotels, resorts and private residences

This week’s instalment of Project of the Week series features a modern high-tech office and urban farm design by 2021 SBID Awards Finalist, Wolter & Yu.

Within a factory in an industrial district of Hong Kong is the future of farming - a high-tech urban aquaponics farm, sustainably growing high quality vegetables and flowers.
Part office and part grow room, the design takes the concept of flexibility and mobility to the extreme: Ceiling-mounted, bi-folding glass panels create a private meeting room when needed, but opens up the whole room for other needs. Dry erasable paint, is applied across the entire office wall, facilitating the free flow of ideas. Height-adjustable desks and ergonomic chairs create comfort for employees, behind HDTVs displaying operational metrics.

The plant room uses 3D printed plant walls mounted onto movable archival track shelves to create dense vertical grow farms. Nutrient rich water from a fish tank and electricity to power perpendicular panels of light are funnelled across the ceiling and down each movable shelf. This allows the farm to adjust the distance between each light panel according to the requirement of different types of vegetation, while excess water is filtered and returned to the fish tank, creating a closed ecosystem. The result is a sustainable, compact, flexible office and urban farm design. You can view a virtual tour here.

SBID Awards Category: Office Design

Practice: Wolter & Yu

Project: Full Nature

Location: Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R.

What was the client's brief? 

The brief for Full Nature was to convert a 180sqm unit in an old high-rise factory building in Hong Kong, into a high-tech urban farm that specialises in growing sustainable, aquaponic vegetables and edible flowers. The office is divided into 4 areas: 1. Entrance corridor, pantry & print zone; 2. Office Area (work zone & meeting zone); 3. Farm / Grow Area and 4. Washrooms & Shower.

The design responds to the client’s objective to find ways to improve sustainable farming. While aquaponics uses fewer resources compared to traditional farming, the design is a multidisciplinary approach to create use space more efficiently by introducing flexibility for both the company and the product. More importantly, we created a scalable modular system for the grow area by tackling product as well as spatial design.

What inspired the design of the project?

The words flexibility and mobility really drove the concept – instead of creating spaces that are dedicated to hosting clients and visitors, or plant rooms with corridors between each rack of plants planted in soil, we sought an intersection of design: hospitality, office and coworking, product, agriculture, and technology. For example, by using 3D printing to create vertical pockets of vegetation, we reduced the amount of soil needed, vertical water pipes mean no excess water would pool in one area but not another, and the amount of light and electricity required to run the whole farm was significantly reduced. It is definitely an unconventional project. We ventured into a collaboration where Full Nature had the urban farming know how, and we brought in our design knowledge, to create a comfortable office design that was also doing something good for our planet.

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

Definitely space – one of the biggest tasks was to increase as much production as possible, without the detriment to the office and its employees. We wanted people to also feel happy to work there, and for guests to come in and feel in awe of the product. So we used only glass to divide the office room from the plant room: Every day you are going to work in an industrial building but no view, but you get greenery and bright warm light coming through while you work! The other difficulty was when we were designing the movable track system – trying to get water and electricity connected to long heavy shelves that move is very difficult and took some trial and error. We created prototypes with 3D printing to test out our ideas until we found a solution that worked.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

The nature of the project is unique, current and forward-thinking. It’s not every day a client who wants to improve farming approaches you and says ‘I want to increase efficiency of my office and farm, but also make it look good!’ It’s a project that responds to current global issues, sustainability, limitation of resources and space. When we first started talking about this project, we found it was so well received amongst industry leaders but also the general public, so it’s a great feeling to have our design doing something good for our city, and having the great response to it afterwards.

Why did you enter this project into the SBID Awards?

The esteemed SBID awards is well known, well regarded and well received. We wanted to share our experience and work with other designers and industry leaders. Being an SBID  finalist is an honour, and we look forward to entering other interesting projects in the near future!

Questions answered by Christina Yu, Lead Designer, Wolter & Yu.

We hope you feel inspired by this week's design!

If you missed the last instalment of Project of the Week, featuring a modern industrial office design by JN Interior Designs, click here to read it.

The team at Graphenstone encourage designers to re-consider the process by which you specify paint for your projects. It’s more important than ever to consider both the environment and human health when it comes to making responsible design decisions for clients and end-users. So how can your decisions on paint make an impact?

Most paint brands focus your attention on one overriding priority - colour. No one doubts that this is a very important element to deliver on both design and mood. But let’s be honest, these days all the recognised brands have a fantastic range of colours, regardless of the fancy names and the marketing spiel.

In this time of overwhelming need for ecological change, we need to consider characteristics of the paint, well beyond just colour. We should seek information to evaluate:

  • the materials used and how they were sourced
  • the manufacturing processes and waste
  • energy, water use and local social issues
  • the toxicity impact where you apply the paint
  • and the way the materials 'die out', at end of life

 

These crucial factors can no longer be ignored or simply brushed over!

180,000 tonnes of plastic micro-beads are reportedly washed into rivers and oceans from the paints industry annually, six times the volume of micro-plastics emitted by the cosmetics industry - where they’re already banned. A day of reckoning awaits the paints industry, and you can help lead the charge.

The microscopic pieces of plastic now pour down globally in 'plastic rain', seeping widely into agriculture and our precious food chain, and according to the journal 'Environmental Intentional', in late 2020, even into the foetuses of unborn babies.

Indoor Air Quality in areas where high VOC paints are applied can be highly detrimental to the health of inhabitants, as toxic chemicals off-gas into the space, for years after application. 30 tonnes of toxic waste according to the WHO is produced for every ton of paint manufactured. And the chemical blend cannot break down at end of life, turning into plastic dust and spreading far and wide. These are just a very few examples on the long list of egregious risks and damage from a paints industry, which continues largely unchecked.

Check out the report 'The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet' here from CIEL.

It’s time to change, 'Beyond Colour'.

So, what is in your paint?

Usually, you won’t see any declaration of ingredients. Neither will you find any trusted alternative to the declared list, such as a recognised ‘harm-free’ product evaluation certification, from the likes of Cradle to Cradle Institute, or Eurofins. These all require a careful and detailed inspection of all the contents, conducted on behalf of the consumer as solid verification of an ecological, or genuinely sustainable claim. So, all the usual paint additives could still be present, from solvents, de-foamers, driers, preservatives, additives, heavy metals and other harmful chemicals.

With 'estimates of nearly 55% of raw material used by paint companies being crude oil derivatives', the impact ecologically on our planet and the damage caused is becoming more widely known and repudiated.

"Paints, lacquers, and varnishes are among the chemical everyday products that have a particularly distinct effect on environment and health (chemicals in conventional paints can include glycols, toluene, and xylene).

Acrylic paints typically include a range of biocides to protect the latex, which can include arsenic disulphide, phenol, copper. Just because a paint says it has low VOCs does not mean it does not give off hazardous vapours." - Architectural Digest Australia/Daniel Wurm, Greenpainters.

Mineral based paint systems are all automatically water based, since they don’t require solvents, using water as the base.

So don’t be misled by the apparent innocence of the "Water Based" paints label. It can disguise a toxic mix of polluting oil and plastic based ingredients, both highly damaging in production and no less toxic at point of use!

About Graphenstone

Graphenstone is the brainchild of a chemical engineer Antonio León Jiménez who dedicated himself to the idea of developing a natural, ecological and health conscious coating for the 21st century. Since the production of their initial range of paints and coatings, they have continued to work diligently creating ever more healthy and sustainable coatings for all manner of buildings.

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Silestone® by Cosentino, the world’s leading hybrid mineral surface for architecture and design, is launching its second series worldwide under its new corporate image. The new Silestone® emblem and character has given rise to the Ethereal collection, which also comes with a major campaign featuring entrepreneur and international fashion icon, Cindy Crawford.

Ethereal by Silestone® represents a quantum leap in terms of design, innovation and sustainability, in line with the transition that the Silestone® brand name is undergoing externally and internally with the development of the cutting-edge HybriQ® technology. This evolution of Silestone® leads to a series of patterns over a white canvas designed to become a best-seller in interior design, and which are the main reason for the title of Cindy Crawford’s campaign with Silestone® Ethereal, ‘Metamorphosis’.

This marble-inspired collection consists of four colours, namely Ethereal Dusk, Ethereal Haze, Ethereal Glow, and Ethereal Noctis, which recreate the dream-like beauty of the sky. The designs offer a deep, fine veining on a white foundation.

Ethereal Haze

Silestone® Ethereal Collection

Ethereal Dusk showcases an urban look in which the blueish tone of its veining brings a modern and avant-garde touch to the space. It symbolises a unique, unforgettable and personal sunrise, in which peace, solemnity and tranquillity are seen on the horizon in the last moments of darkness.

Ethereal Dusk
Ethereal Dusk
Ethereal Dusk

Ethereal Haze includes a dynamic range of grey tones to emit plenty of personality. This colour conveys both calm and character thanks to an interplay of gradients which blend into pure neutrality. Ethereal Haze takes us to an imaginary world where the wind moves the clouds over the mountains, creating an optical illusion of tranquillity and fluffiness.

Ethereal Haze
Ethereal Haze
Ethereal Haze
Ethereal Haze

Ethereal Glow is simply pure, classic elegance. Its golden and grey veining merges with a tinged white foundation, running through the entire design and bringing an accent of colour to every corner. It is inspired by the sunset and its igneous colours and glow, a vision from which you cannot look away. It is an evolution of our internationally acclaimed Silestone® Eternal Calacatta Gold colour.

Ethereal Glow
Ethereal Glow
Ethereal Glow
Ethereal Glow

Ethereal Noctis is synonymous with sophistication. The tinged white foundation is broken up with short grey and black veins, providing contrast, depth, simplicity and modernity. It is inspired by the darkness after sunset, making us feel life with a strange halo of unreality.

Ethereal Noctis
Ethereal Noctis
Ethereal Noctis
Ethereal Noctis

Silestone® Ethereal & HybriQ+®

Silestone® Ethereal is the result of HybriQ+®, the exclusive and pioneering technology developed for Silestone® by Cosentino. HybriQ+®, launched in 2020, is a qualitative leap in the evolution of Silestone® brand. It is a new production process characterised by the company’s commitment to the environment, the circular economy and sustainable management. With HybriQ+®, in addition to Cosentino’s environmental milestones, such as the use of 99% recycled water and 100% renewable electric energy in the production process, at least 20% of recycled raw materials are used in the manufacture of Silestone®.

Furthermore, HybriQ+® technology stands out for its new formulation in the composition of Silestone®, where the presence of crystalline silica is significantly reduced. Instead, a new hybrid formulation of mineral raw materials with equal or better performance than quartz and materials of a recycled origin is used. With this new composition, Silestone® benefits from the same mechanical and technical features and an appearance that enhance its beauty, but with a sustainable focus and new design possibilities including improved depth and translucency.

Ethereal Noctis

About Silestone® by Cosentino

Silestone® is the hybrid surface of premium minerals, quartz and recycled materials more advanced and sustainable on the market, manufactured with the exclusive and innovative HybriQ® technology. Since its creation, Silestone® has set major trends in its market, transforming the world of kitchen worktops and today it is a benchmark in interior design.

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Bolon is recognized all over the globe for its award winning and sustainable woven design flooring. This year the design company launches a unique and bold collection created by its inhouse team. The Truly collection let flooring become the statement of any room.

"We’ve been braver than ever before; we gave ourselves the freedom to try out and create all that we have been curious about over the years. Questioning technical challenges and our own perceptions to innovate new expressions, weaving flooring in colour effects and patterns never seen. I feel we’ve really outdone ourselves this time and pushed the idea of what woven flooring can be", says Klara Persson, the company’s Head of Product Management.

The Truly collection consists of five different patterns, all with their own expression and identity. Enlarged patterns, colour effects and hyper texture is what Truly is all about.

Bolon is bold and is always pushing the boundaries, challenging the perception of flooring design. This year more so than ever. The global campaign, created by Bolon's in-house marketing department, focuses on brand values such as creativity, craft, passion, colour and heritage. "We love creating the unexpected, we love moving forward. This is Bolon", say Annica, Cathrine, Klara, Lisa and Marie.

ANYTHING EVERYTHING, a graphic pattern building rooms within a room. Drifting from intense green to glossy white on dark blue.

DISRUPT AND DISCOVER, an elegant multi coloured check with soft glimmers of yellow, white and green. Dark and inky on a nearly deep blue base.

100%, a sparkling out of focus zig-zag pattern. Vibrating ultraviolet on a black, oily base.

PRECIS, a flowing pattern in magnified formations. Deep black base with a copper sheen and blue sparkles.

I SEE YOU, a collage-like pattern, layers upon layers of subtle surfaces. An experiment on a chalky white base.

"Along the way, we found ourselves right in the middle of our DNA, the very heart of Bolon. All that we have ever created and experimented with have brought us here. Five different faces of Bolon, showing who we truly are", says Annica Eklund Chief Creative Officer at Bolon.

Truly is made in Sweden only with renewable energy, contains recycled material, is easy to maintain, has a high-performance classification, 33 Heavy commercial and a 15-year warranty. The designs comes in roll, 50x50 cm tiles and as Bolon Studio tiles, except Anything Everything, only available as roll. The collection is accessible worldwide from the 26th of January and is ideal for spaces with room for high-end design with a unique expression.

About Bolon

Bolon is a Swedish design company that makes innovative flooring solutions for public spaces. It is a third-generation family business run by sisters Annica and Marie Eklund. Under their leadership, Bolon has transformed from a traditional weaving mill into an international design brand with clients such as Armani, Google, Four Seasons Hotels, Chanel, Adidas, Apple and Missoni. With a strong commitment to sustainability, Bolon designs and manufactures all its products at a facility in Ulricehamn in Sweden. The company is recognised worldwide for its award-winning flooring and its collaborations with some of the world’s most acclaimed innovators and creatives.

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