Australia’s leading manufacturer of clay bricks and pavers, PGH Bricks & Pavers believes that material selection and colour choice of external facades are influenced by the regional location of the homes.
For instance, traditional red or dry press bricks and earthy terracotta roofs are popular in suburbs with period homes, while coastal regions typically use lighter construction materials.
However, modern architecture trends use composite design styles that combine light and heavier products into the façade, resulting in greater visual interest and individuality.
Wall cladding
Selecting an external colour scheme begins with choosing an appropriate wall cladding material. Walls typically make up about 60% of the overall look of the home. Wall cladding materials are available in plenty in modern architecture but the humble brick will always remain a trusted choice.
According to PGH, homeowners are increasingly getting back to bricks for their wall facades due to the thermal and acoustic benefits of the product. Product Manager for PGH Bricks & Pavers, Will Caswell says that it is hard to find a more enduring product available in such a diverse range of colours that requires almost zero maintenance.
Regional colour preferences indicate that northern states prefer a lighter colour scheme while the southern states of NSW and Victoria opt for darker colours such as the rustic browns and silver greys.
There is however, an increasing interest in the surface texture of wall cladding materials across Australia, leading to the emergence of products such as PGH’s Blue Steel Flash that has a metallic shimmer to its finish.
Another cladding trend is the return to monochromatic, smooth formed evenly coloured surfaces offered by PGH in their Smoothface collection in colours ranging from soft creams to rich chocolates and deep reds to soothing greys.
Roofing tiles
Contributing up to 30% of the overall look of the facade, the roof is the second largest element of the external façade, making it important to select a roof style and colour that complements the wall cladding materials and the overall design.
Roofing materials need to be selected not only for the design aspects but also for their functional performance since the roof is tasked with the responsibility of keeping all the elements at bay.
Recent roofing trends aim to minimise the visual impact of the roof with cleaner lines to create a simpler, refined look. Tile profiles such as the Monier Horizon recreate this look while maximising the design flexibility for the home.
Roof colour selection has been quite conservative across Australia with blacks, greys and neutral tones being the popular choices. However, recent trends indicate a return to the raw natural beauty of colours such as straw, slate and earthy terracotta.
Similar to the wall cladding materials, the northern regions typically go for lighter roof colours. While darker colours such as Monier’s Sambuca or Barramundi are popular in the southern parts of the Eastern Seaboard, colours including Monier’s Wild Rice reign supreme in Queensland.
CSR Building Products, one of Australia’s oldest and largest building materials manufacturers offers a comprehensive range of products to meet the wall cladding and roofing choices of homeowners across the country.
Some of the products include Monier concrete tiles, Wunderlich terracotta tiles as well as PGH clay bricks and pavers.
