Linea as you like it
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This Show Home set in the heart of Brentwood, on the outskirts of Taupo, is a great example of the very contemporary look that can be achieved with Linea® Weatherboards and Titan® Facade Panel. But it's not alone. Take a drive through the neighbourhood and you'll see that the Linea/Titan combination is just one of the ways that Linea is making its presence felt here. What is even more remarkable is that one company, Penny Developments Ltd, is responsible for building almost all of the homes in this development. Managing Director, John Penny, explains; “We started out by building two spec homes here, which sold very quickly. The subdivision developer liked what we were doing and subsequently offered us exclusive rights to build all the homes here in Brentwood.” Being the only builder in a substantial subdivision, you might imagine that there would be a certain ‘sameness' about the homes. In fact, this is not the case. The homes are as diverse as the people who live in them. What is achieved however is a certain sense of harmony, in terms of style, scale and colour schemes. John Penny explains their philosophy; “The beauty in being the sole developer here is that we can create unique homes that meet the needs of individual families, but at the same time we can also ensure that certain aesthetic values are attained and access to views and light are preserved. Basically, what that means is that if we build your dream house for you, with views of the lake, and sunshine where you want it, you can rest assured that nobody can come along and plonk some monstrosity down on the land next door.” Although Penny Developments offers a complete package that allows people to walk in off the street, choose their section and choose a house from set plans, that's not the way that most people chose to build a new home according to John. “Our pre-existing plans tend to be a starting point. People can look through them and get some idea of what they like or don't like. Then they sit down with the design team at JT Design and work through what is going to work for them. Linea Weatherboard has certainly become a very popular external cladding choice. There's a definite move away from brick, which doesn't offer much design flexibility, to cladding combinations like Linea and Titan panel, Linea and Surtex or Linea and board and batten. One of the things we like about Linea is the fact that it can be painted in very dark colours which suits the strong lines of the very contemporary homes we are designing here.” Various areas of Brentwood have been developed to accommodate different styles of living, and different bank balances. ‘The Circle' is a cul-de-sac development that has been designed very much with families in mind, with the homes all built around a central grassed play area, and a ‘no-fences' or cross-leasing policy which ensures that the sense of spaciousness is maintained.
“We're looking at creating an environment here that picks up the theme; ‘land, lake and sky',” says John. “It's what Taupo is all about. We're expressing it in terms of the materials and colours we've used. We're using Linea weatherboards on all the homes in The Circle, either as the primary cladding or in combination with other materials such as Titan Panel, board and batten and Surtex, which is a moulded river-stone look finish that looks great on bases, chimneys and pillars.” As well as using harmonious combinations of natural, earthy cladding material, homes in The Circle are painted from a pallet of just six colours, and four dark roof colours, which like the cladding materials are mixed and matched. At the other end of the scale, an apartment complex, is also currently under construction. This higher-density housing will appeal to people wanting a holiday residence in Taupo, or to older people looking for lower maintenance properties. “The idea is to provide a variety of housing that suits different needs, but to do so in a controlled way, so that they integrate smoothly,” says John. When completed, the Brentwood development will include 18% of land area set aside for reserves, with 3.3 hectares of recreational and sporting reserves, children's playgrounds and pedestrian walkways. Read more articles related to this story...
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