Our Story
OUR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Founded in 2004 and originally set up to design and market Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC) landscape products. In 2007 Quatro Design acquired the manufacturing division of the company that had been commissioned to manufacture our GRC products, at which stage we were manufacturing our products in a small factory in Billinudgel, near Byron Bay, NSW.
From these modest beginnings we have evolved Quatro Design into the leading Australian Manufacturer of GRC products aimed specifically at the Architecture, Interiors and Landscape related Industries. We currently operate from our large modern factory in Murwillumbah, Northern NSW.
OUR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Our design philosophy has always been guided by the celebration of basic shapes and forms ensuring that every product range will compliment rather than compete with the surrounding landscape. This philosophy has allowed us to create truly timeless landscape product ranges.
We work with leading architecture, landscape architecture and design firms to provide solutions for their projects. Additionally we work collaboratively with some of Australia’s best design talent in our industry to design some of our own product ranges.
PROUDLY AUSTRALIAN MADE
Australia’s leading GRC manufacturer
Quatro Design is synonymous with quality. To achieve consistent high quality and durability, our products are manufactured using modern and specialised GRC equipment. The manufacture of GRC production requires a high degree of hands-on specialised labour coupled with close attention to detail.
Many of our employees are long standing and valued members of our team who understand GRC production and what is required to deliver consistent quality. These highly valued personal skills coupled with modern specialised GRC equipment is an important part of our manufacturing philosophy.
Each piece is checked during the manufacturing process to ensure compliance with our strict standards and to ensure that our products deliver on customer expectations.
We believe in the value of hand finishing all our products, with attention to detail that that has been acquired over years of manufacturing and in supporting the development of our team.
GLASSFIBRE REINFORCED CONCRETE
Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC) is a mixture of cement, sand and other additives as well as alkali resistant glass fibres that are blended together during manufacturing to create strong yet lightweight products (compared to cast-concrete). Glass fibre strands are used to reinforce the concrete, this negates the need for steel reinforcing. Because steel reinforcing is not required, this allows the thickness of the GRC to be reduced without compromising on strength. Less concrete means less weight and less cement. This means less embodied energy- which is also good news for the environment.
GRC VS FIBREGLASS
Glassfibre reinforced concrete (GRC) differs from fiberglass (FRP) in that cement mortar is used instead of a plastic resin to encapsulate the glass fibre strands. Plastic is more lightweight than concrete, but less durable.
Our Environmental Impact Statement
WHERE MANUFACTURING MEETS ENVIRONMENT
At Quatro Design we take our environmental responsibilities seriously. We are constantly striving to improve our environmental footprint in our factory and are always on the look-out for ways to further reduce our environmental footprint.
To date we have incorporated the following practices at our Murwillumbah factory:
- We designed and built our own water-recycling system which recycles all factory wash down water. Water bourne solids are allowed to settle out of the water stream and the remnant water is treated to reduce the alkalinity back to pH neutral. The pH neutral water is stored in tanks for re-use in the daily factory wash-down. The captured solid waste is used in a local land reclamation project.
- We have installed a 39-kW solar system on our factory, that’s 144 x 250 watt solar panels on our factory roof. This equates to an approximate 60% reduction in power accessed from the grid.
- We have replaced 48 x 400-watt metal halide high bay lights with energy efficient 150-watt LED high bay lights across our two factories.
- All fluorescent lights in our offices, meeting rooms, lunchroom and toilets have been replaced with LED lights.
- Translucent sheeting was installed along our east-facing factory wall and our old factory roof sky lights have been replaced with new polymer sheeting to increase natural lighting inside our main factory.
- We use timber that carries FSC100% certification on our products.
- We recycle all cardboard and paper packaging.
- We have also participated in a waste audit by Bin Trim Assessor as part of the New South Wales Environment Protection Agency (EPA) program.
