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Issue 61 - Vintage Modern Issue

Issue 61

Vintage Modern Issue

The breadth and scope of Habitus has always been extraordinary. With how we live at heart of every issue, we have stepped it up with Guest Editor David Flack of Flack Studio shaking the ‘how’ and looking at new ways to make a house a home. With Vintage Modern as the issues theme, we look at the way iconic design has stayed with us, how daring pieces from the past can add the wow factor and how architecture and good design defy the pigeon hole of their era.

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A Product of

Feeding new design expression with net zero impact
ProductsAlice Blackwood

Feeding new design expression with net zero impact

The story of Verosol is one of vision and innovation. Since the 1960s the company has been pushing the boundaries of sustainable design to positively impact our built environment, give back to the natural environment, and nurture new creative expression. How do they do it? We’re about to find out.


It was in 1963 that Verosol’s founder, Cornelius Verolme, gazed at the glass-clad skyscrapers glimmering across New York City’s skyline. He wondered at how difficult it must be to keep these buildings cool in summer and warm in winter. Cornelius was compelled to return to his home country of Holland and experiment with solutions, conceptualising a metalised fabric that could reduce both heat and glare within those towering glass edifices.

Verolme’s invention was a new innovation for its time: the process of creating a microscopic layer of aluminium on the base cloth of textiles to create a high-performance fabric. It is a process that remains unmatched to this day.

The result of Verolme’s foresight and inventiveness some 80 years ago has seen Verosol grow into a leading industry name, widely recognised for its positive environmental impact on our built environment, and the wellbeing of people within those buildings.

As William Smart, founder of Smart Design Studio, attests, Verosol provides great products and fabrics, not to mention beautiful detailing. He opted for Verosol blinds for his award-winning Smart Design Studio offices in Sydney as they offered low glare properties and the ability to allow natural light into the interior spaces. Also essential: they must be “the most sustainable, environmental blind possible”, he says.

“Smart Design Studio is committed to making carbon neutral buildings in construction and operation at every opportunity possible and to take that as far as we can… within every project. We are a carbon neutral company ourselves, so one of the ways we are achieving this is to work with companies that supply carbon neutral products…” William says.

What does that look like from a supplier perspective? Verosol prides itself on setting benchmarks in areas of performance, quality and sustainability. In Australia, its net zero emission manufacturing plant runs on solar energy, using a solar panel system that is so effective that the facility is now a registered power station. It produces three times the solar power it needs to operate day-to-day and generates ‘green credits’ for energy.

The company is also moving towards zero landfill impact, utilising recycle and reuse strategies to reduce its waste to landfill by over 95 per cent. All of its products are made by hand and also tested in its facility, which feeds into Verosol’s clear commitment to quality.

As Jules Di Bartolomeo, managing director at Verosol says, “We want to be able to make our products with less carbon intensive materials, and focus on longevity. When people think of window furnishings, we want them to think of Verosol.”

Verosol
verosol.com.au


About the Author

Alice Blackwood

Alice Blackwood is the Editorial Director at Indesign Media, and Editor of Indesign magazine and Indesignlive.com. She is a trained journalist and editor, with a background in branding and communications strategy. For more than 15 years Alice has been a passionate advocate of the architecture and design industry within Australia and the wider Indo-Pacific region. Through her work on international design festivals, regional awards programs including the INDE.Awards, as well as in print and digital media, she has helped establish numerous major platforms that recognise and celebrate the region’s most exciting architecture and design, and elevate those industry leaders into the global spotlight. “Our region’s design is defined by its fresh, yet hungry entrepreneurial spirit, its bold thought and brave actions, the flawless execution of complex ideas, and world-leading outcomes. I’m fascinated by all the moving parts of our architecture and design community – the businesses, the brands, the big-thinkers and everyday-doers.” Alice remains an active member of the Australian design and media industries as a Moderator, MC, Judge, Commentator, Mentor and Advisor. Among her main passions are workplace design, education design, healthcare design, wellness design, hospitality design and the business of design.

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Jules Di Bartolomeosmart design studioverosolWilliam Smart


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Issue 61 - Vintage Modern Issue

Issue 61

Vintage Modern Issue

The breadth and scope of Habitus has always been extraordinary. With how we live at heart of every issue, we have stepped it up with Guest Editor David Flack of Flack Studio shaking the ‘how’ and looking at new ways to make a house a home. With Vintage Modern as the issues theme, we look at the way iconic design has stayed with us, how daring pieces from the past can add the wow factor and how architecture and good design defy the pigeon hole of their era.

Order Issue