Features

eco friendly PET Lamps are made by artisan communities in Chile and Colombia using waste PET plastic bottles. The lamps also use sustainable fibres such as wool, rattan and wicker. The project was started in Spain by Pet Lamp Project.

Thank heavens Christmas is over. Because the tree is gone, so are the guests, and Mr Robot has been able to roam across the floors of our maisonette giving them a good vacuum and making the place look clean and tidy again.

Eco-friendly kitchens use recycled and recyclable materials. Wood products should be FSC-certified, while ease of dis-assemby is important in the design of kitchen units and cabinets. Kuche built the ktchen for the first certified Passivhaus in the UK and they used Durat for countertops, a solid surface material from Finland that is 100 per cent recyclable. Puustelli Miinus is an eco Finnish brand to consider.

Kuche built the kitchen for Underhill, the UK's first accredited Passivhaus, designed by architect Seymour Smith and featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs Live. The kitchen has a 10m run of units with a recyclable Durat worktop. Core design criteria were for all materials to be recyclable, for all wood products to be FSC-certified and for the kitchen cabinets to be designed for easy dis-assembly.

Interior architect practice Daniel Hopwood is based in London. He champions craftspeople to make his designs and works in a style to suit clients.

It may not be a term we're that familiar with in the UK but give it time, because co-housing communities are on the increase here. A new one, Marmalade Lane, has been built in Cambridge, a project architect Meredith Bowles of Mole Architects was closely involved with.