Whole Foods - Coffee & Tea Bar - Austin, Tx
Who does't
LOVE Whole Foods Market & Coffee? That's why we were more than thrilled
when Vetrazzo was specified for the Coffee & Tea Bar in Whole Foods Market World Headquarters in Austin, Tx. Vetrazzo a 100% post consumer recycled glass counter top material was the
perfect material for the project; not only because of the ascetics of the material but Whole Food's Green Mission of the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is parallel to Vetrazzo's. "Everyone around here strives to honor this (3 R's) golden rule of environmental stewardship". So it was only a natural choice to use Vetrazzo.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle .... WELL .... Vetrazzo begins with you! When you RECYCLE dispose of your glass bottles into
your curbside recycling bin, it ends up at a facility where it is
processed by color and glass type. Once sorted, it's crushed and packaged for companies like Vetrazzo to
purchase for REUSE. We source all our glass from
post-industrial glass sources and demolition sites to get an array of
options for making slabs but ultimately REDUCING all that glass into landfills. Vetrazzo is also made in Tate, Ga reducing any carbon foot print the product may have.
A beautiful dark Charisma Blue with Patina was chosen for the entire Whole Foods Market Coffee & Tea Bar area.
As you can see (in the photo to the right), the slab is mostly made of brown beer bottles, a few green wine bottles and there is a hint of a rich blue color which is from Sky Vodka Bottles. To give the counter top a rich dark background a was a patina stain applied to the entire slab at the factory.
Vetarzzo counter tops are made up of over 85 percent glass, mixed with cement, water, and other proprietary ingredients which makes it a very durable work surface especially in high traffic areas.
The next time you are in the Austin, Tx Whole Foods make sure to grab a cup of Coffee and take a look!
For more information about Vetrazzo please visit our webistie!
www.vetrazzo.com
Recycled Skyy® Vodka Bottles Emulate Water at the Parkway Hills Baptist Church.
Project: Parkway Hills Baptist Church Children's Area
Architect: HH Architects, Dallas, Texas
Who would ever thought that "a festive evening with friends sampling savory treats and drinking top-shelf spirits poured from a lovely cobalt blue Skyy® Vodka bottle" would become the Parkway Hills Baptist Church Children's Area centerpiece? An innovated, passionate glass scientist in Berkley, CA did. More than 15 years ago he was the first to create a 100% Post Consumer Recycled Glass countertop called Vetrazzo®.
The inspiration for Children's Area at Parkway Hills Baptist Church was the salt water fish tank which was existing and was the idea for the "water" theme. The vision behind the design of the Check-In Desk was "stimulation" and "interactive". Using one of Vetrazzo's signature color, Colbalt Blue Skyy®; made from ACTUAL Skyy® Vodka bottles was a perfect color to emulate blue water.
The primary color "windows" on the face of the desk are at child height so the children can touch them and reach inside them. The fish tank adds visual interest, and "thinking" and "seeing" stimulation. HH Architects & Nan Gammon thought the Vetrazzo counter added visual stimulation and of course color to the desk.
Enviably, Parkway Hills Baptist Church was on budget but it was interesting when interior designer Nan told us "although we went through a number of value engineering exercises with this client, cutting the Vetrazzo counter was never approved. The client agreed that it was the centerpiece of the Check-In Desk, and they liked that it was recycled glass".
Project Credits
HH Architects: Principal -Jerry L. Halcomb
Project Manager - Tom Willis
Interior Designer - Nan Gammon
Construction Administrator - Dale Smith
GC: Beck Group/Principal Robert Hodges
Project Manager - Elliot Bevers
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle .... WELL .... Vetrazzo begins with you! When you RECYCLE dispose of your glass bottles into
your curbside recycling bin, it ends up at a facility where it is
processed by color and glass type. Once sorted, it's crushed and packaged for companies like Vetrazzo to
purchase for REUSE. We source all our glass from
post-industrial glass sources and demolition sites to get an array of
options for making slabs but ultimately REDUCING all that glass into landfills. Vetrazzo is also made in Tate, Ga reducing any carbon foot print the product may have. 
