Go to any exhibition on ‘eco building’, and you soon notice that more and more companies are trying to sell their goods and services by using a big ‘environment friendly’ message. Everything from PVC to concrete. But not all eco materials are born equal!
Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre, with its Douglas Fir timber frame, Cedar shingles and weatherboards, re-used foundations, and rammed chalk wall, is an outstanding example of eco architecture. The SECC won a special award for its sustainable design in the 2005 Civic Trust Awards, for its efficiency in energy and water use, as well as the eco-friendly materials used in the unique construction, interior and furniture.
Juliet and Peter Kindersley had a strong ethical vision for the building, and a sense of the cultural atmosphere that the conference centre should have when it came to life. As a result of the creative input from Juliet and Peter, there are many beautiful touches to the interior design, some of which draw attention to the eco-friendly materials around you.
The grand, white wall of chalk is reused material, originally being dug out to clear the way for the west wing of the building. The bathrooms are adorned with panels made out of recycled shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes – and the sinks sparkle with thousands of fragments from recycled CDs! The green credentials of the toilets are completed with the water-saving taps and loos, and even the paints are environment-friendly and water-based.
Our recycled plastic sinks and loo panels were supplied by Smile Plastics (www.smile-plastics.co.uk) whose products also feature in the Kitchens of Recycled Content (www.milestone.uk.net/eco/recycledkitchen.htm). How brilliant that these products are now more available than ever to mainstream consumers! To any green-minded kitchen makers and interior designers, Revolve-UK’s coasters made of recycled yoghurt pots might be of interest too.
The construction industry might soon use recycled plastic shuttering made by 2k Manufacturing. Why would that be better than wooden shuttering? The key to a green star for this EcoSheet is that, if broken, it can be reconstituted and used again. The special processes employed by 2k Manufacturing means that the shuttering would not be thrown away – as happens with the marine plywood on most building sites.
Tags: architecture, eco building, recycled material, sustainable conference centre, sustainable design, sustainable materials
Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre 
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