Green interior design makes perfect child's play for a thriving family centre in Singapore.
Singapore: a tiger economy, a city synonymous with big business and high finance, but amongst the gleaming steel skyscrapers is The City by Littlez - a children’s play and discovery centre that is pretty unique. Everyday settings, such as a supermarket, a hairdresser’s, street scenes and more, have been attractively recreated to enhance children’s educational experience through role-play - a concept created by Smadar Ron, a designer and business partner at The City by Littlez.
“As a mother, I believed that all parents would welcome play areas with greater educational value for their children, rather than simply a space for climbing and running. I wanted an environment that looked fun and attractive. It obviously had to be safe for the kids, and it had to be durable, easy to clean and maintain,” she says.
However, form and function also had to measure up to environmental concerns. Decorating materials and processes for example, needed certification as having a lower impact on the environment, and enhance the family-friendly experience.
So when Ron heard about HP latex printing technologies and attended a product demonstration by printer ProComp Printset in Singapore, she realised that she could meet her strict criteria by using water-based HP latex inks to print her own wallpaper designs on HP PVC-free Wall Paper.
“I strongly believe in innovation, especially if it benefits?the environment. The Greenguard Children and Schools certificationfor HP latex inks on its PVC-free Wall Paper not only offers peace of mind in terms of the safety we needed for our play area, but it is also an indication of the high quality of the products,” she feels.
Louis Lim, business development manager at the printer Procomp Printset in Singapore, which introduced Ron to its HP latex capabilities, says that these environmental certifications have helped the company sell its products and services to new clients.
“The environmental certificationsthat HP latex printing technologies have achieved can be a key factor in the client’s purchasing decision, particularly for large business accounts that show greater awareness of the impact of their business activities on the environment.
“The certifications also offer opportunities to exploit new markets, such as schools, hospitals and interior decoration, where customers would have been wary of using eco-solvent prints,” he says.
“HP latex ink output is steadily replacing our eco-solvent ink output for a host of existing applications, such as outdoor banners or billboards with a high change rate, or POP displays in critical locations. Once our customers have seen the richness in colour and the range of colour gamut, most of them don’t want to go back to the output from our eco-solvent machine. They are willing to pay a premium,” he adds.
Ron had actually never designed wallpaper before, but found it to be a simple exercise. She sent the job to ProComp Printset on a Thursday and took delivery of the final product on the Monday.
“It took two days to apply 400m2 of wallpaper and there were no odours. It was applied to the walls using water. No glues were required. We opened for business on the following Monday,” she enthuses.
The wall covering was output on Procomp’s HP Designjet L25500 printer. Lim at Procomp Printset says: “Unlike eco-solvent ink prints that require drying time and degassing before they can be handled, finished and mounted, by using HP latex printing technologies the wallpaper printed for The City was dry and odourless straight off the printer. Unlike eco-solvent prints, we didn’t need to laminate, which is an additional cost and extra time, plus you avoid the risk of error from additional steps in the finishing processes.”
And while the wall covering may be kind to the environment, Ron confirms that it is also very tough, holding up against the intense usage a busy play center would experience.
“We’re very busy but it’s pretty strong material and we clean it with a cloth. The colours remain bright and attractive,” she says, adding: “With little kids running around, it was a concern that we made no compromises on quality. Eco-solvent ink printed on vinyl was not an option because it is solvent-based. We were concerned about possible odours and also about printing on vinyl.”
Off the shelf wallpapers were never really an option for the center either. “If we had used commercial wallpaper, we would have had to adapt our concept to the wallpaper available. Also, if you have to repair any damaged areas, will the wallpaper you initially used still be available or in stock? With HP PVC-free Wall Paper we can simply print a strip, remove and replace the damaged strip using only water. Hand painting the location would not have offered the uniform consistency and professional standard required to create The City brand concept.”
There is no doubt that The City looks great and is very popular with children and families. The wall coverings are so colourful and all-encompassing that all other furniture and furnishings are white.
“The wallpaper is central to the atmosphere here,” says Ron. “For the future we are considering expansion to further locations. We are also looking at creating a product line based on The City theme and using HP Latex Printing Technologies, including personalised wallpapers that customers could choose.”Singapore: a tiger economy, a city synonymous with big business and high finance, but amongst the gleaming steel skyscrapers is The City by Littlez - a children’s play and discovery centre that is pretty unique. Everyday settings, such as a supermarket, a hairdresser’s, street scenes and more, have been attractively recreated to enhance children’s educational experience through role-play - a concept created by Smadar Ron, a designer and business partner at The City by Littlez.
“As a mother, I believed that all parents would welcome play areas with greater educational value for their children, rather than simply a space for climbing and running. I wanted an environment that looked fun and attractive. It obviously had to be safe for the kids, and it had to be durable, easy to clean and maintain,” she says.
However, form and function also had to measure up to environmental concerns. Decorating materials and processes for example, needed certification as having a lower impact on the environment, and enhance the family-friendly experience.
So when Ron heard about HP latex printing technologies and attended a product demonstration by printer ProComp Printset in Singapore, she realised that she could meet her strict criteria by using water-based HP latex inks to print her own wallpaper designs on HP PVC-free Wall Paper.
“I strongly believe in innovation, especially if it benefits?the environment. The Greenguard Children and Schools certification for HP latex inks on its PVC-free Wall Paper not only offers peace of mind in terms of the safety we needed for our play area, but it is also an indication of the high quality of the products,” she feels.
Louis Lim, business development manager at the printer Procomp Printset in Singapore, which introduced Ron to its HP latex capabilities, says that these environmental certifications have helped the company sell its products and services to new clients.
“The environmental certifications that HP latex printing technologies have achieved can be a key factor in the client’s purchasing decision, particularly for large business accounts that show greater awareness of the impact of their business activities on the environment.
“The certifications also offer opportunities to exploit new markets, such as schools, hospitals and interior decoration, where customers would have been wary of using eco-solvent prints,” he says.
“HP latex ink output is steadily replacing our eco-solvent ink output for a host of existing applications, such as outdoor banners or billboards with a high change rate, or POP displays in critical locations. Once our customers have seen the richness in colour and the range of colour gamut, most of them don’t want to go back to the output from our eco-solvent machine. They are willing to pay a premium,” he adds.
Ron had actually never designed wallpaper before, but found it to be a simple exercise. She sent the job to ProComp Printset on a Thursday and took delivery of the final product on the Monday.
“It took two days to apply 400m2 of wallpaper and there were no odours. It was applied to the walls using water. No glues were required. We opened for business on the following Monday,” she enthuses.
The wall covering was output on Procomp’s HP Designjet L25500 printer. Lim at Procomp Printset says: “Unlike eco-solvent ink prints that require drying time and degassing before they can be handled, finished and mounted, by using HP latex printing technologies the wallpaper printed for The City was dry and odourless straight off the printer. Unlike eco-solvent prints, we didn’t need to laminate, which is an additional cost and extra time, plus you avoid the risk of error from additional steps in the finishing processes.”
And while the wall covering may be kind to the environment, Ron confirms that it is also very tough, holding up against the intense usage a busy play center would experience.
“We’re very busy but it’s pretty strong material and we clean it with a cloth. The colours remain bright and attractive,” she says, adding: “With little kids running around, it was a concern that we made no compromises on quality. Eco-solvent ink printed on vinyl was not an option because it is solvent-based. We were concerned about possible odours and also about printing on vinyl.”
Off the shelf wallpapers were never really an option for the center either. “If we had used commercial wallpaper, we would have had to adapt our concept to the wallpaper available. Also, if you have to repair any damaged areas, will the wallpaper you initially used still be available or in stock? With HP PVC-free Wall Paper we can simply print a strip, remove and replace the damaged strip using only water. Hand painting the location would not have offered the uniform consistency and professional standard required to create The City brand concept.”
There is no doubt that The City looks great and is very popular with children and families. The wall coverings are so colourful and all-encompassing that all other furniture and furnishings are white.
“The wallpaper is central to the atmosphere here,” says Ron. “For the future we are considering expansion to further locations. We are also looking at creating a product line based on The City theme and using HP Latex Printing Technologies, including personalised wallpapers that customers could choose.”
Greenguard Certification
Greenguard Certification is part of UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories). The organisation oversees the entire certification process, including all audits and qualifying criteria for each product category. Products are tested for formaldehyde, VOCs, airborne particles, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions using environmental chamber testing that follows the guidelines of ASTM D5116-97and D6670-01. Most HP printers meet these standards. Access the Greenguard Product Guide for free at http://www.greenguard.org/
HP has a long history of commitment to the environment and printing with the environment in mind. HP has worked with UL for more than 50 years and was one of the first technologies to seek certification for its products.
The introduction of water-based HP latex inks established a new benchmark for the large-format market and achieving internationally recognised environmental certifications was seen as way to help customers and end-user make informed choices. HP latex inks are Greenguard Gold Certified (formerly known as Greenguard Children and Schools Certified), meet AgBB criteria and have the French émission dans l’air intérieur A rating.
In addition, UV-curable HP FB255 Scitex Inks, for use with HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Presses, are Greenguard Gold Certified and meet AgBB criteria, greatly extending the range of applications possible for indoor use.
Precomp Printset
Procomp Printset was founded in August 1984. Situated in Signapore, the company has always kept abreast of technology and from the early days it supplied multi-language
typesetting, bromides, tone prints and print-ready films to various international and local advertising agencies, design and publishing houses and printing companies.
In the last 20 years Procomp has maintained its vision and kept up with changing needs via timely investment in cutting edge equipment and evolving its services with the needs of its clients. Today, the company operates in specialised areas including pre-press and wide-format print. The company invested in its first HP latex printer in 2010, initially to test the technology on the market, and bought a second in 2012. It expects to add a third this year.