Speaking at Wolseley’s newly-opened Sustainable Building Center at Leamington Spa, housing designer Wayne Hemingway stressed the importance of good design in ‘selling’ sustainable products.

“I‘ve come to the new Wolseley Sustainable Business Center in Leamington Spa, and I don’t think you can fail to be impressed by it. It shows you how to do things in the modern way, and a sustainable way.

“It’s really important to have places like this because while sustainability is talked about today, it’s still something that’s a niche thing. The Sustainable Building Center is something that’s quite sexy – it shows what you can achieve and how you can achieve great design using products that maybe you didn’t know existed before.”

Wayne Hemingway also stressed the social and economic, as well as environmental aspects of sustainability.

“It’s important to widen out the concept of sustainability, especially the social aspects, which has been a problem in the past. There’s no point building something and then knocking it down in 30 years’ time.

“Building things is one of the most important things we do. The places where you live, work and play are so important to your wellbeing. They impact on our environment much more than a blouse or a frock will, and they also impact on our happiness.

“That’s why Wolseley’s Sustainable Building Center is so significant – it represents a big step towards sustainable building becoming the norm.”

www.wolseleysbc.co.uk