Affordability and enduring style

A good-looking, durable home can be yours for a lot less than you think.

It may seem like an impossible dream for many young families and couples living in New Zealand's main centres, but buying a new, well-designed home made from quality building materials is still well within their reach.

And here's the proof: this stylish, new four-bedroom home in Pukekohe, just south of Auckland, was built by Haven NZ for just $260,000. Based on the 'Tripod' from Haven NZ's Modular POD Series, it's the first home constructed in New Zealand using James Hardie's new Axon™ Panel... And the results speak for themselves.

The 175m2 single-level home was custom designed and built for the owners. Its simple but striking design is highlighted by a combination of James Hardie® Linea™ Weatherboard, with its strong shadow detail and deep horizontal lines, the new Axon Panel, which incorporates subtle vertical lines. Painted in contrasting colours, these two cladding products bring visual interest, texture and depth to the design.

"We are very impressed with the design flexibility Axon Panel has given the home owners to create their vision of vertical lines painted a dark colour contrasted by Linea Weatherboard in a lighter shade," says Gary Millington of Haven NZ.

The design also includes eye-catching horizontal aluminium-framed feature windows that pick up the lines of the Linea Weatherboard and stand out against the horizontal detail of the Axon Panel.

To complement the home's strong lines, the mono-pitch roof extends out into an overhang - finished with HardieFlex™ Eaves Lining - above a spacious deck off the open-plan kitchen and living area, creating the perfect space for relaxing and entertaining.

Inside, the attention to detail is just as obvious, with a sleek, functional kitchen and designer vanities in the bathroom and ensuite, both of which are finished in Villaboard® Lining, and  feature fully tiled showers and underfloor heating. Rich chocolate-toned carpet throughout the home links the spaces and brings warmth to the neutral walls.

Axon Panel has been specifically designed to work well with Linea Weatherboard, creating an interesting, modern look and allowing for far greater design flexibility. This Pukekohe home illustrates how successful the combination can be.

Like Linea Weatherboard, Axon Panel uses James Hardie's breakthrough CLD technology, which reduces weight and increases the product's strength and durability. The result is a long-lasting, low- maintenance, stylish cladding product, which, being more stable than timber, can easily be painted in dark colours.

"From an installation perspective, we found fixing Axon Panel quick through the use of a nail gun, and it comes pre-primed, which makes painting quicker too," says Gary Millington.

Providing it's installed and maintained correctly, it's also resistant to damage from moisture, rotting and fire, and comes with a 15-year product warranty, giving you complete peace of mind.

It's also an ideal cladding option for harsh coastal environments.
And, just like its cousin Linea Weatherboard, Axon Panel can be painted any colour you wish - even dark colours, like the Dulux Glenbrook used on this feature home - giving you even more design scope.

Axon™ Panel has already received a lot of praise from architects and designers.

Yvette Jay at Yvette Jay Design describes Axon Panel as "Hardiflex sheet gone trendy", while Hamish Grey from GM Architects says: "It's great to see a product like this with a smooth surface."

Award-winning architect Wayne Houston from Houston Architects liked the scope that Axon Panel provided for incorporating texture into the design palette.

And further praise for it came from Bob Burnett of Christchurch practice Bob Burnett Architecture, who says: "Axon Panel provides fantastic design flexibility… it fits in well with both traditional or contemporary designs. The aluminium external box corner flashing gives a sharp contemporary look or, alternatively, more traditional facings and detailing can be applied. We like the joints that are achieved with the lapped sheet design, as this allows for a clean, continuous surface appearance." 

Experience the enduring style of Axon Panel for yourself at the Auckland and Christchurch Homeshows.

Everyone who registers online for James Hardie email product updates will go in the draw to win one of 50 double passes to the Auckland or Christchurch Homeshows.

Comments
	I would like to know the exterior colours used? - Posted by Amanda  |  29 Mar 2007 12:55pm

Log in or Register to submit your comments about this showhome.