Our limewash paint is made in both Perth, Australia, where we started the business, as well as at our headquarters nestled in the German countryside. This 'head office' is not only where we operate but also where we manufacture a significant portion of our paints and, crucially, where we live. We are dedicated to maintaining and restoring the property for ourselves, our employees, the village, and the local wildlife. This commitment includes a variety of care programs, with our property being inspected for biodiversity on a yearly basis, reflecting the importance we place on preserving and enhancing our surroundings.

The Bauwerk Colour production facility is situated in an environmentally protected area and is part of Natura 2000, the largest coordinated network of protected areas in Europe, dedicated to preserving the continent's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. With its highest level of protection as a bird sanctuary, this area offers natural spaces for bee-keeping, old varieties of fruit trees, wildflower meadows, and re-afforestation with endemic oak and elm trees.

We also have one of the oldest living London Plane trees on our front lawn. It was planted in 1668 and is recognised as one of the ‘100 most important trees in Germany’. We participate in a care program to secure the massive branches and crown of this historic tree, preparing it for handover to Stiftung BAUMERBE Deutschland (Tree Heritage Trust Germany).

Additionally, we take great care to protect the habitat for bats that live in and around our barns, buildings, and natural surroundings. We are also committed to the care and rejuvenation of our property's lake, aiming to transform it into a sanctuary for amphibious animals. Such habitats are increasingly lost to fishing, pollution, overuse, and other adverse factors. The lake provides water for all animals living on and around our property, including deer, squirrels, countless birds, waterfowl, frogs, and more.

Any business needs to be mindful as it grows, but we face extra layers of complexity since we operate in a non-industrial, historic, and naturally recognized location. In addition to our role as custodians of our natural land, we are committed to preserving and restoring the historic property we call home. Running an international manufacturing business from a historic property in a wilderness area within a small village is unconventional, but it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Firstly, we utilise the existing barns and outbuildings on the property, preserving these historic structures as an integral part of our village's heritage. By revitalizing abandoned buildings that were once slated for demolition, we also support traditional craftsmen, many of whom are among the last of their trade. Our restoration efforts focus on reinstating significant historical features such as ox-eye windows and traditional roofs, while adhering to modern conservation practices in our choice of materials. This includes using lime mortar and plaster, as well as incorporating recycled materials and insulation techniques to meet current energy conservation regulations. Whenever feasible, we source timber from our own estate, which is milled locally in the neighbouring village. This ensures we have sustainable local supplies for repairs and new building structures like staircases, and replanting means we maintain a healthy forest ecosystem.

As a business with a preservative-free product that operates primarily through mail order, we take our packaging very seriously. We collaborate with expert partners in both the design and development of our paint containers and postage materials to ensure our products stay fresh, maximise space, and use responsibly sourced materials. Additionally, we strive to create packaging that encourages recycling.

We use consumer-recycled materials for all our packaging and continuously look for further improvements. Our paint containers aren’t just grey because it’s our brand colour, it’s a by-product of their post-consumer material. In fact, our containers have the highest post-consumer recycled content available, currently between 30-50%. We also ensure that our packaging is fully recyclable and easy to separate, such as aluminium lids and recyclable plastic containers. Our shipping packaging is made from unbleached recycled cardboard and contains no plastic wrapping fillers or cushioning. 

We are constantly working with our suppliers to trial new products to improve our packaging environmentally and for the customer’s experience. Our latest trial is a 'Bag in a Box' package which would reduce the need for warehouse storage, minimise the use of plastic in the actual container, extend product shelf life, reduce shipping volume requirements, and decrease the amount of cardboard needed for protective shipping packaging.

Through these efforts, we aim to maintain high standards of sustainability while ensuring our products are delivered safely and efficiently.

The core of Bauwerk Colour's business is Limewash paint, a carbon neutral product that absorbs carbon dioxide from the air as it dries. It goes without saying that we also want to make good choices to minimise our environmental impact in other areas of the business. We invest in renewable energy, optimize transportation routes, and implement energy-efficient practices in our manufacturing facilities to minimise our carbon footprint.

Green Energy Initiatives

Since we began back in 2000, Bauwerk Colour has operated on 100% green power, starting in Australia and continuing after our move to Germany.  While renewable electrical energy has historically come at a premium compared to conventional sources like coal, we are dedicated to powering our products, offices, warehouses, and production facilities solely with wind, solar, and bioenergy sources. Whilst we aren’t producing our own electrical energy yet, this is firmly on the horizon.

Responsible Transportation

We have consciously opted for a business model where we do not operate a fleet of vehicles for deliveries or pick-ups. Instead, we use courier services that optimise load space and avoid empty return trips to their depots. By delivering all of our orders directly to the customer, many vehicle trips to stores or depots are no longer needed.

We're proud to partner with DHL GoGreen for shipping, which neutralizes the CO₂ output from DHL Express for all air freight. All our air shipments utilize CO₂-neutral aviation fuel. In many urban areas, DHL utilises electric vehicles for deliveries, reducing noise, air pollution, and CO₂ emissions. Learn more.  

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Supporting local communities is at the heart of Bauwerk Colour's ethos. Since its inception, our company has actively sought to contribute positively to the areas where we operate.

Fremantle, Australia

When Bronwyn and Andreas established our paint business in 2000, they chose a former bakery in Fremantle, a once-abandoned area that now thrives as a trendy hub on the outskirts of Perth. To integrate with the community and create a destination, they combined the paint shop with a cafe. This not only brought people to the area but also earned the cafe a prestigious Mietta Award within its first year, recognizing it among the top 100 best cafes and restaurants in Australia. While the cafe is no longer in operation, we continue to operate a business in the same area over twenty years later!

Rural German Village

Today, Bauwerk Colour calls a remote village two hours south of Berlin its home. While the countryside is picturesque, opportunities for local employment were scarce before our arrival. As our business expands, we are increasingly involved in the village community. We employ neighbors, offer work experience opportunities, and create local jobs across various skill sets.  We have recently become part of ‘Villages with a Future’ a scheme in Germany to reinvigorate life in the countryside.  It's not just about business; we're also into restoring old properties, planting kitchen gardens, and throwing parties under the massive Plane tree out front where we can all come together. For us it’s not trying to be too clever…it’s just about building something lovely with heart.