MATERIALS: Fielders Boulevard™ in COLORBOND® steel Monument® Matt
ARCHITECT: Robeson Architects
Fielders Boulevard™ makes understated impact at Hyde Park House
Building a new home can present many challenges to architects and builders. As well as meeting the client design brief, there can also be additional criteria set by local Government that needs to be considered, to ensure that a good outcome is achieved for all parties involved.
Such was the case for Robeson Architects – the creators of ‘Hyde Park House’, a recently completed home in Perth – who successfully delivered a stunning family home, having navigated some tricky council demands.
Architect Lauren Benson, said that given the home’s position within a heritage street, design execution – particularly the façade – had to be sympathetic to neighbouring properties.
“Gaining approvals from council was challenging – we effectively had to work within heritage protection zone level requirements,” Lauren said.
“The dwelling to the right of our site is a traditional early 1900s brick cottage which is typical of the area, while to the left we had an Art Deco home, a style which was also prevalent.”
The design of Hyde Park House has taken inspiration from certain elements of both these neighbouring homes, using hand-made heritage style bricks, along with architectural touches including rounded wall edges to capture some Art Deco design aspects.
According to Lauren, choice of materials played an important role in achieving the design vision.
“The driving intention of the design was for it to be ‘of its place’ and sympathetic to the streetscape and adjacent properties,” she explained.
“The design aims to be a contemporary interpretation of the character of the street and neighbourhood, rather than a replication of a specific era of character home.”
To better integrate within the streetscape, Robeson Architects also applied a considerable first floor set back over the eastern half of the property. The cladding of choice for this section of the home was Fielders Boulevard™ in a Monument® Matt finish.
“We’d recently used Shadowline® 305 on another project and really enjoyed the result, so we started looking at other options within the Fielders range. Boulevard™ caught our attention and we thought the material would be ideal for the upper level of Hyde Park House,” Lauren said.
“Manufactured from COLORBOND® steel in colour Monument®, this cladding provides a recessive effect, offering a level of subtlety and not imposing itself on the street – black ties into everything and complemented the brickwork timber and other materials applied on the project.”
Another benefit of using Fielders Boulevard™ on the first floor was that it allowed Robeson Architects to apply reverse brick veneer principles to help combat the city’s hot summers.
“The upper floor construction is reverse brick veneer, which is much better suited to Perth’s temperate climate than the preferred double brick construction that is so prevalent here,” Lauren explained.
“We try to promote the sustainability and environmental aspects of the materials we specify whenever possible. In the case of this project, behind the Boulevard™ cladding is a 30mm layer of foil board and additional insulation batts.”
Other sustainability and passive design elements of the home include thermally broken double glazed windows throughout, solar panels, hydronic heating, strategic window placement and operable windows to take advantage of the cooling ‘Fremantle Doctor’ on summer afternoons.
Lauren said that the low maintenance qualities of Boulevard™ as well as the Australian-made element made the material even more attractive.
“Robeson Architects supports Australian-made products whenever possible, and this is also an important consideration for many of our clients,” she said.
“In terms of longevity and maintenance, we also wanted to give the owners something that would be easy to keep, so they wouldn’t be out staining timber every year.
“Product aside, the Fielders team assisted us to specify the cladding and also provided direction to the builder during installation – I know the builder, Formview Building, enjoyed working with Boulevard™.”
Impressed by the outcomes of Hyde Park House, Lauren has again turned to Fielders, choosing Shadowline® 305 for one of her next projects.
Boulevard™ and Shadowline® 305 are part of the Fielders’ ‘Finesse’ architectural range.
Fielders Finesse
The Fielders Finesse range includes six unique profiles, Boulevard™, Shadowline® 305™, Prominence™, Cadence™ Grandeur™ and Neo Roman™ that have been designed to combine the aesthetic appeal, durability and flexibility of steel cladding. All profiles are available in a diverse range of materials including traditional COLORBOND® steel and high-end COLORBOND® Metallic steel finishes.
Achieve a high end look on your next project, without the traditional high end cost with Fielders Finesse designer cladding. Easy to design, easy to install and easy on your budget, Fielders can ensure your next project is finished off with Finesse.
See the full range here.
