Set atop the sloping Cornish coastline, Carbis Bay Hotel is an eco-friendly estate which prioritises green luxury living, tailored to holidaymakers seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. From installing an on-site Energy Centre, which provides power for the hotel, spa and the variety of room types, to cladding the new beach lodges and ocean venue, part of a £15m beachfront regeneration project, in Kebony, a global leader in sustainable modified wood, the forward-thinking Carbis Bay Hotel ensures that the commitment to green living runs through all aspects of the coastal holiday resort.
The family run estate, located in popular holiday-hotspot, St Ives, also ensures the maintenance of its blue flag beach, marine life and wider natural rural surroundings boasting a world-first promenade made solely from recycled plastics from the ocean. The Energy Centre provides power for the whole site, as well as harnessing the heat created during the production of electricity to heat a constant supply of hot water running throughout the site and its swimming pools, providing a carbon saving of approximately 70 tonnes per-annum to the environment.
Architects, The Bazeley Partnership, were careful to select innovative construction materials for the beach regeneration project that would contribute positively to the hotel’s environmental footprint; this was a significant factor in the hotel’s recent award success at the AA Hospitality Awards 2019, where the Estate won ‘Best Eco Hotel.’ Kebony wood, was chosen to clad the entire exterior, due in part to its global reputation as a leading producer of sustainable wood, and its unique aesthetic which sees the wood delicately weather and blend into the unique beauty of the surrounding area.
Developed in Norway, Kebony’s revolutionary technology is an environmentally friendly process which modifies sustainably sourced softwoods by heating the wood with furfuryl alcohol - an agricultural by-product. By polymerising the wood’s cell wall, the softwoods permanently take on the attributes of tropical hardwood including high durability, hardness and dimensional stability. The revolutionary process not only provides a wealth of enhanced physical properties, but also contributes to the timber’s unique aesthetic which sees a natural silver-grey patina develop over a time.
Owner of the Carbis Bay Hotel, Stephen Baker commented, “We’re extremely proud of this hotel and how it interacts with the surrounding area, which has always been central to our vision for Carbis Bay. Our eco- facilities are first-rate and the use of sustainable materials like Kebony, are testament to our dedication and commitment to the environment now, and for generations to come.”