Material laboratory
Six materials we can defend in year twenty.
A working library, not a mood board — every sample here has a maintenance schedule and an exit strategy.
In-situ concrete
Off-form, 17mm ply texture, no coatings — it keeps its own record of the pour.
Laminated veneer lumber
Structure as finish: oiled LVL brings warmth to spans steel can't.
Dry-pressed brick
Chosen for its end, not its start — 20-year bagged brick looks better than day-one.
Patinating brass
Handrails and numerals. Touch it for a decade and it remembers.
Vertical cedar
The studio's default timber — moves gracefully in NZ humidity with the right profile.
Wool carpet
Acoustics and bare feet, specified 100% NZ wool where the budget allows.
Substitutions
When the budget argues.
Every material above has a nominated understudy: LVL for steel, bagged brick for clad frames, brass-anodised aluminium for solid brass. The rule is that the substitute must age on the same curve — we'd rather delay a room than install something that fails differently.