The story of Verosol is one of vision and innovation. Since the 1960s, the company has been pushing the boundaries of sustainable design to positively impact our built environment, give back to the natural environment, and nurture new creative expression. How do they do it? We’re about to find out.
It was in 1963 that Verosol’s founder, Cornelius Verolme, gazed at the glass-clad skyscrapers glimmering across New York City’s skyline. He wondered at how difficult it must be to keep these buildings cool in summer and warm in winter. Cornelius was compelled to return to his home country of Holland and experiment with solutions, conceptualising a metalised fabric that could reduce both heat and glare within those towering glass edifices.
Verolme’s invention was a new innovation for its time: the process of creating a microscopic layer of aluminium on the base cloth of textiles to create a high-performance fabric. It is a process that remains unmatched to this day.
The result of Verolme’s foresight and inventiveness some 80 years ago has seen Verosol grow into a leading industry name, widely recognised for its positive environmental impact on our built environment, and the wellbeing of people within those buildings.
As William Smart, founder of Smart Design Studio, attests, Verosol provides great products and fabrics, not to mention beautiful detailing. He opted for Verosol blinds for his award-winning Smart Design Studio offices in Sydney as they offered low glare properties and the ability to allow natural light into the interior spaces. Also essential: they must be “the most sustainable, environmental blind possible”, he says.
“Smart Design Studio is committed to making carbon neutral buildings in construction and operation at every opportunity possible and to take that as far as we can… within every project. We are a carbon neutral company ourselves, so one of the ways we are achieving this is to work with companies that supply carbon neutral products,” William says.
What does that look like from a supplier perspective? Verosol prides itself on setting benchmarks in areas of performance, quality and sustainability. In Australia, its net zero emission manufacturing plant runs on solar energy, using a solar panel system that is so effective that the facility is now a registered power station. It produces three times the solar power it needs to operate day-to-day and generates ‘green credits’ for energy.
The company is also moving towards zero landfill impact, utilising recycle and reuse strategies to reduce its waste to landfill by over 95 per cent. All of its products are made by hand and also tested in its facility, which feeds into Verosol’s clear commitment to quality.
As Jules Di Bartolomeo, managing director at Verosol says, “We want to be able to make our products with less carbon intensive materials, and focus on longevity. When people think of window furnishings, we want them to think of Verosol.”
