CREST Hub Branding & Interior Design

Eco-friendly interior design for the CREST Offices in Enniskillen

The inspiration and challenge we set ourselves for this project was to create a modern, functional, and visually outstanding office design that would be ideal for the purpose of the end user, low cost, and, most of all, created and carried out with the utmost commitment to the environment. We wanted to use what we could find and source easily in the local area while also being inventive in the use of those materials. The ideal scenario at the outset of the project was that everything - yes, everything - in the center would be either repurposed, reused, recycled, or, at the very least, heavily recyclable at their end of life.

The design is, outwardly, a very aesthetically pleasing office interior. What makes it different from the standard office interior design is the commitment to the protection of the environment. All energy use was thoroughly considered, using heat recirculation, glazing, insulation, etc., to ensure the center was close to carbon neutral. Internally, reused and recycled materials were used to not just adhere to our "green" aims but also to create a space that, in design terms, looked like no other.

Being a technical college, much of the design was specified by us and then completed in-house. In terms of materials, the uploaded document will provide much more complete insights; however, the materials included repurposed scaffold planks and scaffold poles from a local bridge-building project, reused scrap pine flooring from an ongoing college refurbishment project, recycled brick, slates, pipework, and radiators from a recently demolished 19th-century building, slate mined from a local quarry by hand, and a selection of highly recycled and recyclable furnishings. Our techniques for coming up with the design were to first look at what was available and utilize it for its best purpose rather than design first and source later.

The main transformational aspect of the project is that it gives the CREST staff - themselves heavily committed to environmental improvement - an inspirational space to work which has a genuine backstory of its own. They can tell clients where the brick came from, where the wood came from, where the poles in the desks came from, etc. This has obvious interaction benefits, as the space itself acts as a demonstration piece to prove what is achievable through considered sustainable design. This massively improves results by having healthier staff, happier in their work environment, and more inspired to spread the messages of environmental protection they themselves sit among every day, as well as providing a "wow" factor for clients who will, in turn, want to talk about the office and its green credentials and how they could use some of the technologies in their own spaces.

The project, based at South West College's Enniskillen Technology and Skills Centre, began in November 2013 and was completed in early February 2013.

The research section of the design was completed in a somewhat non-traditional manner. Ordinarily, in projects such as this, the designer will research without consideration of available materials. In this case, our primary touchpoint was to find out what was available in the local area that could be turned into an amazing office space and then, and only then, start actually considering the design and how to best utilize the available materials. Of course, through research, we also constructed what made an eco-friendly office space and what types of materials could be beneficial towards creating wall claddings, furniture, etc. within the space. The CREST team themselves were, as experts in good environmental practice, heavily involved in this, and as such, we were certain our own research was creating the environment that would fit with the ethos of CREST. Of course, being so experimental, some of the materials used required some inventiveness on how to use them, but the results speak for themselves as a design that will contribute to improving local business, society, and the environmental impact of client businesses.

The challenge throughout was to ensure the environmental credentials of every piece within the center while aligning it to a small budget more consistent with a traditional office design. Of course, building regulations, flame retardancy, disability access laws, thermal insulation, and even lifespan and maintenance had to be taken into account, as well as the challenge, already alluded to earlier, of the production of many of the pieces themselves which were bespoke and one-off - and no template or precedent existed.

This Design was awarded Bronze in A' Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design Award in 2014. Bronze A' Design Award: Bestowed upon outstanding and creatively ingenious designs that authenticate experience and resourcefulness. Esteemed for incorporating best practices in art, science, design, and technology, they exhibit strong technical and creative skills and contribute to quality of life improvements, making the world a better place.