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WFC create UK's most eco-friendly restaurant

WFC have completed work on what has been described as the ‘greenest restaurant in the country'. London's Water House, based in Shoreditch.

Collaborating with architects Waugh Thistleton and services engineer Michael Popper Associates, WFC have worked tirelessly to ensure that Water House is not only one of the best  eating and drinking experiences in the capital but that guests can sit back and relax knowing they are doing so in the most eco-friendly environment in the country.

Danny Purcell, project manager for WFC said: 'Working on Water House was extremely hard work, but ultimately very rewarding. We had to approach things from a completely new angle than normal and sourcing some of the materials proved a real challenge. Attention to detail was paramount with this project, and the benefit of manufacturing a lot of the interior in our own Devon-based metalwork and joinery workshops proved of particular benefit. In an industry that is becoming ever-more eco-conscious we are proud at WFC to be pioneers in this field.'

Designed within an existing shell, the interior of the restaurant reflects its ethos. The concrete soffit has been left exposed to maintain the simple and no-nonsense quality of the building. Natural products and non-exotic finishes such as clay-based paint and linoleum flooring have been sourced from local suppliers. Timber, sourced from FSC managed forests, has been used on bar tops and hand woven wicker clads the bar fronts and ventilation grills, giving the space a natural aesthetic.

In the summer the space will be conditioned using cooling sails suspended from the ceiling. Cold water, generated by a heat pump is passed through the cooling sails, which provide radiant cooling overhead. Further cooling is provided by the fresh air displacement ventilation system, which supplies conditioned air at a low level through panels made of woven wicker. This energy efficient system dramatically reduces the power demand for heating, chilled water and ventilation.

Water House uses green tariff electricity generated from renewable sources. In addition, solar panels on the roof meet more than one third of the restaurants hot water needs.

Water House even makes its own electricity via the 50 giant solar panels installed on its roof, which heats up water from the nearby canal, which is used to run the dishwasher. The dishwasher itself uses ozone to clean the plates, along with a biological rinse aid made from citrus; the same goes for the glass washing machine. The restaurant is heated and cooled by the canal water, and everything that can be recycled is. WFC even sourced eco-friendly paint, and locally sourced food is processed through a wormery which produces fertilizer for the herb garden.

True to the principle of sustainability, the kitchen and bar equipment were used at this year's 100% Design exhibition in September and have been reinstalled into Water House. The restaurant's ethos of recycling and reusing is instilled in the very essence of its design and construction and will be incorporated into its daily activities.

Water House is owned by the cutting-edge charity The Shoreditch Trust, which was set up in 2000 and aims to regenerate the run-down area with a variety of schemes. Arthur Potts Dawson, is heavily involved, and mirroring the format of Jamie Oliver's 15, the restaurant plans to employ under-privileged Hackney youths, who are intended to be green ambassadors, spreading the word through-out a notoriously wasteful industry.

design & copyright Tim Pestridge / Absolute PR & Marketing, built: K-Web Internet Solutions