Putney Exchange

Putney Exchange and MIW

The Putney Exchange Shopping Centre was built in 1990 and is a premium shopping destination located in the centre of Putney, South West London. It provides a vibrant and attractive shopping environment blending a mixture of well-known High Street brands with an eclectic mix of independent retailers.

The team at Putney Exchange were looking for a hydration point at their shopping centre to reduce the number of single-use bottles used in the area while improving the health of shoppers, workers and gym-goers. When surfing the internet for a solution, Irene Terrones, Centre Manager at Putney Exchange, entered the MIW online competition to win a free bottle filling station. A few weeks later, she received an email saying Putney Exchange had won.

The Competition

The Putney Exchange was searching for a bottle filling station as shoppers, shop workers, and gym-goers were previously purchasing single-use plastic bottles of water to stay hydrated, which was not good for the environment.

Irene said she found MIW after searching online for bottle filling stations led her to the website. MIW stood out to Irene and the team due to the range and quality of products; and because we had provided solutions for major companies and events such as Wimbledon.

The Process

Once the email was received explaining Putney Exchange had won in the prize draw, it was a case of picking a water dispenser that suited the shopping centre, choosing where on-site it was going to go, and deciding on the design.

Like many shopping hotspots in London, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many shops within the Putney Exchange to close. Therefore, when looking for a solution, the health benefits of UV technology and contactless dispensing made the Eco-UV Genie the ideal solution for the centre.

As previously mentioned, sustainability is a factor in all decision-making for Irene and the team. In January 2021, Putney was named one of London’s most polluted sites. Putney High Street registered average levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) far above the 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air allowed by UK law¹. Since then, the community has been working to reduce this. There has been a consistent decline in pollution over the past few years as the council has focused on monitoring and improving pollution levels in air quality hotspots². Companies such as the Putney Exchange have played a big part in this, working with the Natural History Museum to help monitor the sustainability of the building and area. Reducing single-use plastic bottle usage supports improving their sustainability score and environment. Therefore, having a bottle counter on the Eco-UV Genie dispenser was another reason this model was desirable for the centre.

In terms of installation, the team weighed up a few options of where the dispenser could go and upstairs seemed to be the ideal spot. This location sees high footfall due to being next to the centre’s toilets. It is also just outside the gym, meaning gym-goers can easily access water when walking in and out of the facility. The bottle filling station was installed quickly, with water and electric supply implemented.

The team at Putney Exchange went for a simplistic design for the dispenser to match the modern interior of the shopping centre. The blue reflects the core Putney colours. A sustainability message on the front of the machine was included to support the bottle counter and spread awareness of the benefits of the Refill Station.

The Completed Project

With the unit plumbed in and used regularly, the MIW team carry out a regular equipment maintenance programme, servicing and sanitation, ensuring the water system is fully functioning and working at maximum capacity.

Looking forward, happy with their Touch Free Refill Station, Irene and the team are potentially looking to have the same machine installed on the ground floor of the shopping centre.

Key Quotes

“I love the bottle filling station and so do shoppers, gym-goers, and shop-workers – the dispenser has proved very popular, with 1556 bottles saved in four weeks. The dispenser is perfect, and we are very happy with it.” – Irene Terrones, Centre Manager