Simonds Homes has created a new range of houses which signal a shift in its traditional building philosophy.
Two of the homes are located at The Quay, an Australand subdivision in Torquay on the Victorian coast. In line with market demand for a ver satile and stylish alternative to brick veneer cladding, they are the first dis play homes that Simonds has built using full cement-based cladding.
“We approached James Hardie and initially designed three homes using all its products without any brick veneer at all,” says Bruce Byrne, Simonds Homes’ Victorian country housing manager.
The developer’s requirement for ‘articulation’ was a significant factor in the overall design and construction. “In the design context, articulation calls for unusual and interesting angles so that when you look down the side or across the front of the home, instead of a straight flat wall in one plane we’re constructing walls that go in or jut out — it creates a totally differ ent aesthetic,” Byrne says.
Designer Colin Armstrong created the double-storey Portofino and the Brimlea homes utilising a range of James Hardie products. In the Portofino double-storey home, four different products were used — Scyon Matrix cladding; Scyon Linea weather board; Scyon Axon cladding; and HardieTex base sheet.
The Brimlea has a high-pitched roofline, with the front door recessed well back into the porch. It is fully clad in the same range of products, using HardieTex base sheets and Scyon Linea weatherboard at the front and different products mixed around the rest of the home.
Simonds Homes plans to release its new fully clad homes right across VIC and into parts of NSW and QLD. New designs are also in the pipeline. “We’re currently working with three designs and are looking at releasing another eight or 10 in double- and single-storey, all using a mixture of James Hardie products,” says Byrne.
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