The Pro Panel: "The Material I Love to Work With Most..."
One question, seven expert answers
Every home design professional has a go-to material that helps define their signature style, whether it be glass, concrete or natural stone. And while there may be favourites within the industry, how they are used in the hands of different individuals is what opens up design to infinite possibilities. Here we ask seven Houzz professionals the material they love to work with most, and how it helps their ideas take form.
What’s your favourite material to work with? Tell us in the Comments.
What’s your favourite material to work with? Tell us in the Comments.
Hardwood timber cladding
Architect Scott Weston of Scott Weston Architecture Design: One of our favourite building materials to use is hardwood timber cladding in either Victorian ash or blackbutt. We like the timber to be uniform in appearance and usually specify it to be hand selected. We finish both species in a clear Cutek varnish and allow the warm honey brown timber to naturally fade to an even silver grey. It’s highly durable, low maintenance and provides a soft, textural warmth to the building’s external facade, and you can very easily incorporate other building materials to sit comfortably alongside it.
Architect Scott Weston of Scott Weston Architecture Design: One of our favourite building materials to use is hardwood timber cladding in either Victorian ash or blackbutt. We like the timber to be uniform in appearance and usually specify it to be hand selected. We finish both species in a clear Cutek varnish and allow the warm honey brown timber to naturally fade to an even silver grey. It’s highly durable, low maintenance and provides a soft, textural warmth to the building’s external facade, and you can very easily incorporate other building materials to sit comfortably alongside it.
Engineered timber flooring
Interior designer and decorator Sarah Gavan of Point 2 Design: Lately we have been excited by engineered timber flooring, and the large range of possibilities it holds beyond flooring. In a recent project, we used engineered timber flooring to clad joinery – in this case, a TV unit. This allowed us to match the floorboards perfectly with the unit, providing a fluid cohesion to the space. This wooden effect in cabinetry would usually be achieved by using a timber veneer. Timber veneers are quite labour intensive – they require the veneer to be laid on board, and finished at a specified gloss level. The beauty of engineered timber flooring is that each board is prefabricated and pre-finished, with a solidity not often achieved by veneers.
Interior designer and decorator Sarah Gavan of Point 2 Design: Lately we have been excited by engineered timber flooring, and the large range of possibilities it holds beyond flooring. In a recent project, we used engineered timber flooring to clad joinery – in this case, a TV unit. This allowed us to match the floorboards perfectly with the unit, providing a fluid cohesion to the space. This wooden effect in cabinetry would usually be achieved by using a timber veneer. Timber veneers are quite labour intensive – they require the veneer to be laid on board, and finished at a specified gloss level. The beauty of engineered timber flooring is that each board is prefabricated and pre-finished, with a solidity not often achieved by veneers.
Off-form and board-formed concrete
Design Consultant James Cooper of Sanctum Design: I am loving off-form concrete and particularly board-formed concrete. As both a structural and decorative element, it requires a good builder/form worker to get it right, however it is well worth the effort. Used in structural blade and feature walls, fireplace chimneys, landscape elements, etc., an off-form wall adds valuable thermal mass and structural expression into a home.
Board-formed concrete, made by using timber boards (e.g Oregon) as the formwork, is later stripped to reveal the boards’ patterns. If done well, it can read like lime-washed timber, more-so than concrete, and provides wonderful soft, light grey tones; with the reversed grain and knots from the timber creating a beautifully natural finish.
Design Consultant James Cooper of Sanctum Design: I am loving off-form concrete and particularly board-formed concrete. As both a structural and decorative element, it requires a good builder/form worker to get it right, however it is well worth the effort. Used in structural blade and feature walls, fireplace chimneys, landscape elements, etc., an off-form wall adds valuable thermal mass and structural expression into a home.
Board-formed concrete, made by using timber boards (e.g Oregon) as the formwork, is later stripped to reveal the boards’ patterns. If done well, it can read like lime-washed timber, more-so than concrete, and provides wonderful soft, light grey tones; with the reversed grain and knots from the timber creating a beautifully natural finish.
Timber veneer
Kitchen Designer and Renovator Graeme Metcalf of Dan Kitchens: Few materials have the warmth, beauty, texture and sheer variety of timber. In the kitchen environment, thin slices of timber are usually bonded to a substrate to produce timber veneer panels. Doing so imbues the timber with structural integrity (less warping and cracking), dimensional accuracy (large standardised panels for workability) and is far more sustainable than in solid form.
Timber veneer can be difficult to work with, but in the hands of a master joiner, the most amazing pieces of furniture can be built – just look at the achievements of mid-century Scandinavian craftsmen. As a natural product with no two grain patterns the same, I like that each time I work with it I get a completely unique outcome. Visiting the timber yard with clients and selecting veneer panels is as exciting for me as selecting stone slabs. When paired with stone, timber veneer is a very elegant combination that will not tire with time.
Kitchen Designer and Renovator Graeme Metcalf of Dan Kitchens: Few materials have the warmth, beauty, texture and sheer variety of timber. In the kitchen environment, thin slices of timber are usually bonded to a substrate to produce timber veneer panels. Doing so imbues the timber with structural integrity (less warping and cracking), dimensional accuracy (large standardised panels for workability) and is far more sustainable than in solid form.
Timber veneer can be difficult to work with, but in the hands of a master joiner, the most amazing pieces of furniture can be built – just look at the achievements of mid-century Scandinavian craftsmen. As a natural product with no two grain patterns the same, I like that each time I work with it I get a completely unique outcome. Visiting the timber yard with clients and selecting veneer panels is as exciting for me as selecting stone slabs. When paired with stone, timber veneer is a very elegant combination that will not tire with time.
Natural stone
Architect Dominic Bagnato of Bagnato Architects: Something that is real and provided by Mother Nature is always going to be better than any man-made material. Like a piece of fruit from a tree or a freshly-grown vegetable from the ground, there is an overwhelming goodness provided that no processed food can give you.
Natural stones, too, are provided by Mother Nature and are quarried from all over the world in exotic locations and provide a rich and earthy material that can be used in many parts of your home. The selection of colour, texture and variety is vast. There are limestones, travertine, granites and, one of my favourites, marble. The wonderful attribute of this material is that it can be used as a floor finish, on a wall, on a kitchen benchtop and as cladding on your home. Stone has a natural durable quality that I love and provides a connection to the earth that synthetic substitutes can not. It’s also no coincidence that buildings that have lasted thousands of years and have aged gracefully are covered in natural stone. Stone has a longevity and a warmth that will make any piece of architecture rise to another level.
Architect Dominic Bagnato of Bagnato Architects: Something that is real and provided by Mother Nature is always going to be better than any man-made material. Like a piece of fruit from a tree or a freshly-grown vegetable from the ground, there is an overwhelming goodness provided that no processed food can give you.
Natural stones, too, are provided by Mother Nature and are quarried from all over the world in exotic locations and provide a rich and earthy material that can be used in many parts of your home. The selection of colour, texture and variety is vast. There are limestones, travertine, granites and, one of my favourites, marble. The wonderful attribute of this material is that it can be used as a floor finish, on a wall, on a kitchen benchtop and as cladding on your home. Stone has a natural durable quality that I love and provides a connection to the earth that synthetic substitutes can not. It’s also no coincidence that buildings that have lasted thousands of years and have aged gracefully are covered in natural stone. Stone has a longevity and a warmth that will make any piece of architecture rise to another level.
Corian
Interior Designer and Decorator Anne Ellard of Anne Ellard Design: One of my favourite materials to work with is Corian. It is a non-porous, man-made material composed of acrylic resin and natural minerals. It’s an extremely versatile material that can be used to create almost anything including vanity basins, wall panelling, tabletops and even bath tubs. It’s most commonly used in the home for benchtops. It can be curved and rolled into almost any shape and the joins are invisible. It’s also a renewable surface, so in the unlikely event that it gets damaged, it can be repaired on site.
I love to use it on kitchen benchtops and seamlessly return the surface up the wall behind the bench to create an upstand with no joins. I also love the fact that any number of sink bowls can be worked into the benchtop using the same material and, again, with no open joins. It’s such a great material to work with as a designer and clients love its durability and hygienic qualities.
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Interior Designer and Decorator Anne Ellard of Anne Ellard Design: One of my favourite materials to work with is Corian. It is a non-porous, man-made material composed of acrylic resin and natural minerals. It’s an extremely versatile material that can be used to create almost anything including vanity basins, wall panelling, tabletops and even bath tubs. It’s most commonly used in the home for benchtops. It can be curved and rolled into almost any shape and the joins are invisible. It’s also a renewable surface, so in the unlikely event that it gets damaged, it can be repaired on site.
I love to use it on kitchen benchtops and seamlessly return the surface up the wall behind the bench to create an upstand with no joins. I also love the fact that any number of sink bowls can be worked into the benchtop using the same material and, again, with no open joins. It’s such a great material to work with as a designer and clients love its durability and hygienic qualities.
MORE FROM THE PRO PANEL
“The Biggest Kitchen Design Blunder You Could Make…”
“The Design Rule That Is Ok to Break…”
“The Best Advice I Ever Received”
Interior Designer and Decorator Larissa Davis of Lewisham Interiors: Glass has been a favourite material of mine to work with throughout my career. Along with its elegance and high-end appeal, I find it extremely versatile in that it can be utilised for so many elements in a design, be it interior or exterior.
We recently designed a carport that featured a glass roof, as it was important for the clients that the structure maintained a light, open feel and not interfere with the symmetry of their home’s Art Deco facade. We also designed a curved glass canopy over the upstairs balcony doors, and incorporated some existing lead light feature windows into a much larger window design.
Furthermore, we have had a lot of success with mirrors as a splashback when trying to visually open up a small kitchen, and a warm bronze or antique style can really ‘class up’ a laundry. To introduce a full wall of mirror in a tiny bathroom with a frameless glass shower screen is an exciting transformation to see, and clear glass set over a feature wallpaper can further expand the design and colour possibilities. Extending to furniture, lighting and accessories, glass is always such a welcome inclusion at the final dressing stage.