Australian bathroomware supplier Caroma is pleased to support ‘The Greenhouse by Joost’ project – a self-sustained pop-up house, café and function centre, by supplying their water-efficient bathroom products for the exciting environmentally friendly house.

The facility is located at Campbells Cove in The Rocks and was officially opened on the 9th February by The Hon. Tony Kelly, MLC, Minister for Lands. The Greenhouse by Joost will be open to the public from Saturday 12th February 2011 until the end of March.

Joost and his team designed and built the installation from broken down shipping containers and packing crates, and all of its furniture, light fittings, glasses, efficient water and energy saving appliances, and even staff uniforms were made from recycled and recyclable materials.

The exhibition was created to inspire and generate awareness amongst builders, designers, restaurateurs and the public about recycling materials and sustainable building practices.

The entire Greenhouse arrived in three 12 metre containers, which carry the building structure, stairs for the rooftop access, kitchen, bathroom, bar and staff change rooms.

As a proud sponsor of the Greenhouse, Caroma’s contribution to the Greenhouse includes a host of award-winning bathroom fittings and fixtures, with a focus on water saving.

The bathrooms feature the revolutionary Caroma Profile 5 toilet suite with integrated hand basin. The toilet suite features a clever dual flush button and spout design, which saves water that is normally used from a separate hand basin. Clean water from the spout, firstly used for hand-washing, fills the cistern, ready for the next toilet flush, while integrated Smartflush technology ensures ultra low water usage.

The Caroma H2Zero Cube Urinal was also used in the Greenhouse. The vitreous china urinal incorporates unique cartridge technology that operates with no water.

Other environmental features in The Greenhouse include a small rooftop garden that features a mixture of growing herbs and vegetables, backed up by locally sourced produce. It will be prepared by Perth Greenhouse chef Matt Stone – Gourmet Traveller’s best New Talent 2010 and his team, for sale to the public by the cafe.

A Jaro in vessel compost machine and a worm farm on the roof will also ensure all food scraps are composted, while the building’s power will be sourced from its own cooking oil through a Bio-Pro generator. The water collected from the roof of the Greenhouse will be used for watering the garden.

The walls of the building are made of straw bales, which if kept dry are safe and long lasting, and have a high insulation rating. Steel is also used extensively throughout the building as it is 100 per cent recyclable.

The Greenhouse will be open daily to the public as a gallery, education centre and cafe, providing its visitors with a taste of sustainability practice in world class design and cuisine. The cafe will be open from 7.30 am to midnight Monday to Saturday and 10 am to 10 pm Sunday.

Following its two month visit to Sydney, Joost plans to take this innovative exhibition to Milan for the International Furniture Fair, followed by design festivals in Berlin, London and Istanbul.