As designers we have become increasingly focused on sustainability in recent years and the global challenges we are now facing demand such change.
Within each of our projects we look to find solutions; whether that be through recycling, sustainable materials, or locally produced products. We believe sustainability in design should deliver integrity and honesty.
One project we are working on is the external wayfinding scheme for the University of Dundee in Scotland, an inner city campus founded in 1881. In 2005, the university became home to the first UNESCO centre in the United Kingdom.
Using the research and testing being undertaken by the School of Science and Engineering, we are currently working alongside the University to incorporate recovered toner powder from printer and photocopier cartridges for use as an integral pigment in coloured precast concrete components within the wayfinding scheme.
Coloured concrete is already in existence but made in a different manner. Typically, pigments are used – either manufactured in a chemical plant or mined from the ground.
Not only will this deliver local community and environmental pride, it provides the University a platform to express the research being undertaken on campus, in turn promoting the University’s key values of innovation, sustainability, integrity and excellence.
