Wilston Greener Kitchen

This was a very exciting kitchen for us, built as a part of a new addition to an existing post-war cottage in Wilston.

We carefully designed the kitchen to make a feature of an exciting new material we have been developing the use of this year. The material is a hoop pine eco ply door material, with a core of post consumer recycled cardboard. The result is a very strong, stable, extremely light kitchen door with the warmth of a locally sourced renewable timber. The material is extremely low emission as the cardboard core of the product is VOC free. A practical advantage of the cardboard core is that it does not swell if exposed to moisture, unlike typical compressed board materials used in kitchen construction, adding to the longevity of the kitchen.

We used the cardboard core ply doors as a feature material to help define the carfully composed lines of the kitchen design and add a textural depth to the kitchen palette. The remaining doors in the kitchen are a warm white low emission melamine faced material with a satin gloss finish (that is inexpensive, long lasting and very easy to clean). As usual, we 'rescued' the engineered stone for the benches and used very low emission Australian made carcass material.

As with a number of our kitchens, the splashback is punctuated by a window sitting behind the cooking area, providing energy efficient natural task lighting and framing the greenery outside (and in this case revealing a lovely view of Mt. Cootha in the distance).

We would like to thank our fabulous client for embracing our passion for creating built environments that are sustainable and for trusting us to use recycled cardboard to make her kitchen!

Paddington Greener Kitchen

We have recently finished this beautiful kitchen just down the road and around the corner from our new studio.

The first picture is an early three dimensional drawing we composed during the planning phase of the project to represent the idea of the completed kitchen to the client. The following two pictures are of the same kitchen once completed and styled for the photo shoot.

The kitchen has been constructed of our typical low emission, responsibly sourced materials such as an acrylic two pack paint finish as well as rescued stone benches. The kitchen palette and design was purposely restrained in order for the view of the greenery outside to imbue the space with interest and life. I am very pleased with the way the windows in the kitchen invite the calming hues and interesting shapes of the garden into the space as well as providing natural task lighting and ventilation.

It was great to be involved in such a local project and we look forward to walking to site visits more often!

Our New Studio!

We have recently moved into a cosy new studio space at 83 MacGregor Terrace in Bardon. We look forward to meeting with new and exisiting clients in our studio by appointment Monday to Friday, and Saturday by arrangement.

Keep an eye on our blog for plenty of new posts once I get a chance to venture out and take shots of our recently completed jobs. Just have to get over the move first!

Kangaroo Point Residence

This sleek, modern kitchen in a high rise apartment tower in inner city Kangaroo Point is an example of sustainability with altitude!

Every material we used to make this kitchen was chosen because of its reduced environmental impact, including an innovative lower emission acrylic two pack paint finish.

The colour palette of predominantly crisp white is warmed by the inclusion of a stunning timber veneer privacy panel cutting through the space, helping to accentuate a cantilevered section of cabinetry. The veneer used is certified by a respected chain of custody scheme ensuring it has been responsibly sourced. These materials are complimented by high quality energy efficient appliances and light fittings and well as locally made water efficient tapware.

We were proud to achieve a sharp contemporary space set in a dense urban environment while being heavily informed by a respect for the natural environment.

Bardon Greener Bathroom

It was our great privilege to be asked to design this bathroom in a lovely old 'Queenslander' home in the leafy Brisbane suburb of Bardon (just around the corner from our office!). The design was composed in response to a client brief to create a functional, family sized bathroom using materials and fixtures that resonated with the client's desire to live sustainably.

Everything for the bathroom was thoughtfully chosen to achieve our goal of a 'greener' space, with Australian made water efficient tapware (feeding a greywater system) and environmentally conscious joinery and building materials.

We created some textural depth and warmth in the space with the use of recycled timber to form shelving and a baton privacy screen. The timber had been salvaged from local demolitions, such as the Southport Spit. This beautiful timber is embellished with scars and 'character' earned over decades. We finished it in a natural plant based clear oil that allows for reapplication over time, to ensure it continues to grow old gracefully. It was wonderful to give this timber a new home in the 'Bardon Greener Bathroom'.

A water saving toilet was chosen for the bathroom with a basin on top of the cistern, allowing water to be used twice, first for washing hands, then for flushing. It is innovative products such as this that help to create a functional and attractive space that has a reduced environmental impact both in its construction and use.

It was an absolute pleasure to work on this project and continue to explore the possibilities of creating 'greener' bathrooms. I would like to thank the committed client for sharing in a vision for the space and for working harmoniously with us to achieve it.

More Toowong Greener Joinery.....

Our 'greener' joinery for the Toowong House extended to the provision of vanity cabinetry in the bathrooms, such as the main bathroom above. The same sort of thinking that informs our choice of materials in our kitchens applies to cabinetry in other areas of the home. This enables us to help a client put important (and often overlooked) priorities like indoor air quality and the sustainability of materials high on the list throughout an internal fit out.

The bathroom cabinetry above features the use of 'E0' board material as well as timber veneer certified as sustainably grown under a recognised chain of custody scheme. Even the handles were carefully chosen because they are made in Australia of the highest quality solid stainless steel, ensuring they will last for the life of the cabinetry and can eventually be recycled.

Toowong Greener Joinery

Greener Kitchens was awarded the priviledge of supplying the joinery for this amazing home, atop the hill in Toowong, in the inner west of Brisbane earlier this year. We were very pleased with our ability to achieve a very high level of finish demanded by this multi million dollar home using our 'greener' materials with reduced environmental impacts and health advantages.

The joinery is a blend of low emission, environmentally responsible materials and finishes such as Australian made E0 carcass material, waterborne lower emission two pak paint finishes, environmentally responsible certified sustainable timber veneers and 'rescued' engineered stone and marble where possible.

We trust the new owners of this amazing property will enjoy the improved indoor air quality guaranteed by our careful choice of products, and be satisfied that we have invested plenty of care and thought into providing them with an amazing built environment that had the precious natural environment very much in mind. In this way we hope the 'Toowong Greener Joinery' project, is an example of 'class with a conscience'.

We would like to thank the wonderful building team who had enough belief in our vision and work to engage us for this incredible project.

Northgate Greener Kitchen

Greener Kitchens was given the opportunity to complete this kitchen for a lovely family moving into a home they had recently purchased.

The brief was to create a very functional kitchen that would become the 'heart' of the home, relating to the open plan living and dining areas around it. The clients also wished the kitchen to be constructed of materials that were low VOC emitting (to preserve indoor air quality), had a lighter environmental impact and were easy to maintain in the hustle and bustle of busy family life.

With a tight budget in mind we used inexpensive Australian made low emission board for the carcass and doors and an environmentally responsible laminate for the bench-tops, free of heavy metals and chlorine based dyes.

The client's one decadence was the glass splash-back in a warm yellow to reflect the tonings of the adjacent feature wall. We often specify the use of glass for splash-backs as a 'greener' material because of its longevity (ensuring a reduction in long term material use) and because it can be cleaned easily without the use of harsh environmentally hazardous cleaning agents.

The design made the best use of materials by achieveing family sized storage using drawers and a pull out pantry which both make best use of the depth of the cabinets in a tight space.

The end result is a low emission, low maintenance kitchen that fits in with the life of an environmentally aware, busy young family. We would like to thank our Northgate Greener Kitchen clients for being such fantastic people to work with, and we hope they are enjoying their new home and kitchen!

Here are a couple more pics

of the Newmarket Eco House

Kitchen detailed in my last

blog entry.

Newmarket Eco House Project

This week's blog entry features a project we completed in late 2008. Greener Kitchens designed, supplied and installed joinery for the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry for this wonderful new sustainable house in Newmarket.

It seemed Greener Kitchens was a natural fit for this project, a beautifully designed home constructed using materials and design strategies to minimise its impact on the environment.

The joinery was carefully conceived to tie in with the sustainable goals of the build and work in harmony with the energy efficiencies being sought by the house.

Australian made board product derived from managed wood fibre sources such as chain of custody schemes was used to construct the joinery. The bench-tops are what we call 'rescued stone' which are engineered stone off cuts or surplus stock we 'rescue' from local stone masons to prevent them from eventually being discarded into landfill. By 'rescuing' the stone our client made a considerable saving on the price of a stone bench-top, making the product a win for the budget and for the environment (who said environmentally responsible products are more expensive?).

We wanted the kitchen to be able to justify its material use, so in concert with our client we carefully thought about how it would work with the family and what it would need to store so it was no larger than it needed to be. We used plenty of drawers to maximise storage in the floor cabinets so the kitchen did not require wall cabinets, a significant material saving. Having no wall cabinets means they are not casting shadows over the benches, which reduces the kitchen's reliance on artificial light, creating an energy saving as well!

Further energy savings were also intended in the design of the kitchen, such as the operable louvre windows set behind the cooking area to provide natural task lighting for the cook-top as well as natural ventilation, reducing the number of times the client will reach for the light switch or the range-hood. Gas appliances have also been installed in the kitchen to reduce the kitchen's energy use and carbon foot-print, and help it to live off its solar power system.

We would like to thank the wonderful family that are now living happily in their Newmarket Eco House for choosing us for their project and for the passion they shared with us for the investigation of better, more sustainable ways to do things. It was a privilege to be involved in such an amazing build.

Thank you for stopping by the Greener Kitchens blog "a little birdy told me...". I thought this might be a great space to upload photos and descriptions of our projects, feature information about exciting new sustainable products and generally just share some information about what Greener Kitchens is up to.

2009 has started as an exciting time for Greener Kitchens with some fabulous projects on the go in Toowong, East Brisbane, and Anstead. Our first 'Greener Bathroom' has also just been completed in Bardon, just around the corner from our office. I really enjoyed the opportunity to relate the same sort of thinking I put into our kitchens into an environmentally sensitive bathroom renovation. I look forward to sharing some photos and a detailed description of what makes it a 'greener' bathroom in the coming weeks.

Speaking of photos, over this past week or so I have also had the chance to pop out and take some pics of a couple of the projects we completed last year, which is always a great joy. There is nothing better for me than seeing the end result of all the time and thought invested in a project and see the kitchen finally at home in its new freshly painted surroundings (low VOC paint of course!). I will be featuring the first of these kitchen projects in my next blog entry. Till then, thanks again for having a squiz at our blog and please come back and visit again soon.

Take care, Druce