CASE STUDIES Return to list of case-studies The Natural Nursery School - Creating a safe, non-toxic school environment Nursery Unit, Cedar Integrated Primary School, Crossgar, County Down When commissioned to create the Nursery Unit at Cedar Integrated Primary School, Rachel Bevan Architects were keen to minimise the use of chemicals in the school environment and to avoid the off-gassing that can occur with conventional paints. Products from Green Building Store's Natural Paint Collection were specified, including: Primasol emulsion paint (with Spinell yellow mineral pigment colouriser) for interior walls; Ecosol emulsion paint for interior ceilings; Wood Wax Opaque (Blue), a semi-gloss wood finish, for internal doors; Country Colour satin-matt wood finish (Dove blue) on external doors; and Country Colour (Labrador blue) on external fascias and plinths. As well as the natural paints and finishes, natural rubber flooring materials were specified, to avoid off-gassing and other environmental concerns associated with vinyl. The overall budget was only £30,000 and although the natural paints and finishes were slightly more expensive than conventional products, they only represented a small element of the total building contract. The painting contractor had no problems with coverage, ease of application and mixing in the liquid mineral pigment colouriser, although the paints and finishes sometimes took a little longer than conventional products to dry. The Nursery Unit was completed early in 2002. Rachel Bevan has been very satisfied with the quality of the natural paints and wood finishes and would definitely consider specifying from the Natural Paint Collection again if other clients were sympathetic. She suggested that the matt finish of paints would make them particularly suitable for use in historic buildings. She would encourage other architects wanting to use natural paints and finishes to plan ahead and give themselves time to try out samples and experiment with colours and to ensure clients and contractors are happy with the product before ordering. Architects: Rachel Bevan Architects, Tel/Fax: 028 44830988, Email: bevanarchitects@btconnect.com Suppliers: Green Building Store (Natural Paint Collection), Tel: 01484 461705, www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk