I personally think the cladding would look nice and be the easiest to maintain. We also live on the Gold Coast and have a brick house that has been rendered (not by us) and, to be honest, it is not particularly low maintenance (if you want it to stay looking good that is). It is prone to leaching which leaves ugly stains so regularly needs retouching with the paintbrush. It can also develop small cracks in the render due to temperature change and movement. However, the most worrying thing for us is with regards to termites. If you render over your brick on the lower half of your house, it is highly unlikely you will see the telltale "mud" they leave that indicates they are trying to gain access into your house (they climb up in between the render and the brickwork). I would be trying to keep the exposed bricks in preference to rendering over them, particularly if you have a garden bed up against the house anywhere.

The house is fairly small from the photo but elevated on a basement or garage plinth. If the base is brick, leave it as is. But whatever colour you chose, eliminate contrasts so if, say, a soft French grey, paint the walls, window and door joinery and roof flashing the same colour. A contract could be the new deck rail, but I would even consider painting it the same colour as the basement to link the 2 levels or just the same as the top. A bright glossy front door could break up the monotone.

We want something that blends in, but because it's a zinc and colourbond shed home, I want to choose a colour that makes it look more like a house and less like a shed. I was looking at basalt but my husband would prefer a lighter colour for keeping the place cool in summer. My original choice was windspray but I'm a bit concerned it won't contrast enough with the zinc roof...but perhaps better than dune that might look too 'sheddy'...so hard to decide!

Got my answer - non combustible material such as, natural stone - marble, granite or concrete etc.