Circular Economy – A successful example of a Circular Economy flooring program at the 4500sqm Public Health Wales Project.
The construction industry operates within a linear economy of make, use, dispose.
Buildings are stripped out and torn down with astonishing regularity while new buildings
are constructed from hard-won virgin materials. But raw materials are becoming scarce,
and the demands for them are exploiting fragile ecosystems, even as the global demand
for resources continues to rise.
The industry demands over half the world’s extracted materials and generates around
a third of the total waste generated in the EU, making it a prime candidate for applying
the circular economy. Yet there has been little focus on how construction industry
professionals and their clients can contribute towards the movement. Much has been
written about the concept but there are few working examples of a system which could
change the landscape of building projects.
“A circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative
by design, and which aims to keep products, components and
materials at their highest utility and value at all times,
distinguishing between technical and biological cycles.”
Paragon Carpets supporting Greenstream Flooring recently showed a definitive case
of the Circular Economy with the Public Health Wales project – the 4500sqm
(and 1500sqm re-purposed carpet tiles) redevelopment of the well known public building
without creating a large carbon footprint. The principles of a circular economy have been
applied to the built environment of Public Health Wales, resources are kept in use and
their value retained.
The Public Health Wales project proposes concepts, showing how new business
models can be applied to reduce capital and life cycle costs, providing a positive
architectural legacy for future generations. Environmental excellence isn’t the only
mantra of this building project, a focus on exceptional design inspiring employee
well being and increased productivity was also key.
To achieve this Greenstream only chose products from the Paragon Carpets
collection which followed stringent environmental and design guidelines.
All products conformed to BREEAM A+ ratings and were made in Britain to ensure
a low carbon footprint. Secondly all products had to be part of the Paragon3R
selection, ensuring any new material installed allowed for the old recovered tiles
to be repurposed in social housing schemes.
Finally design expectations were met by choosing large colour banks, ranges with
high LRV bounce rates, which provided engaging flooring contrasts. For this reason
Strobe, Diversity and Toccarre products proved to be exceptional choices with
dramatic results, created by mixing the ranges developing demarcation
zones, vibrant break out zones and obvious wayfinding links within rooms.
Paragon Project / Public Health Wales
4500sqm Over Five Floors Using New and 1500sqm Repurposed Carpet Tiles
DIVERSITY / Bark / Denim / Electric / Foundry / Liberty London Stone / Mouse / Razzmic Berry
TOCCARRE / Fresco / Grigia / Marrone / Montagna
STROBE / Spark Project
PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR / Greenstream Flooring
