We have taken premises in a listed building in Glasgow city centre which has been rather neglected for some years. We hope we have helped to bring it back to life and back into useful service. We were delighted that Glasgow-based interior designers Smith and Brown brought their creative and environmental skills to the project.
We have fitted out the shop as sustainably as we can:
renewable electricity supply
heating partly by wood stove (smokeless zone compliant)
low energy lighting, particularly LED, wherever possible
natural rubber floor
decoration using eco-paints
reused cafe furniture, from the National Gallery in London
reused shelving in the shop, or shelving from sustainable wood
recycled glass surfaces on the serving counters
dual-flush toilets and spray taps
in-line water heaters, heating only the water we use
We even have environmentally sound insurance cover which is carbon-neutral and provides us with an environmental audit.
Our recently fitted water meter indicates we're using around 100 litres per day - a really low figure since the average water use per head in Scotland is 143 litres per day. It shows our water-efficiency devices in the cafe and toilets are working well.