The Ballance Street Home

A wish to turn words into deeds in terms of sustainability led this architectural designer to use Abodo for his home and studio.

Project details

Architect
Kingsbeer Architecture
Product
Vulcan Cladding - Vertical Grain in a Silicate Coating
Vulcan Cladding – Vertical Grain in Paint Finish
Vulcan Panelling in Oil Based Polyurethane
Completion date
Early 2021
Location
Gisborne, New Zealand

Shane Kingsbeer’s Gisborne home and studio

The ability to enhance and contribute to the ways people live in and use spaces appealed to a young Shane Kingsbeer and inspired him to enter the field of architectural design.

Based in Gisborne, Kingsbeer Architecture is a rising architectural design studio creating beautiful, environmentally friendly homes that respond to the landscape and provide creative solutions for the lifestyles of homeowners.

Shane works from a purpose-built studio in front of his house, both of which are clad in Abodo products.

His house, which was recently featured in Here magazine, uses a range of Abodo’s offerings, with Vulcan Cladding - Vertical Grain externally, Vulcan Cladding in a paint finish internally and on parts of the exterior, and Vulcan Panelling used in the richly textured and toned bathroom, which even features a one-of-a-kind handmade bath crafted from the timber product.

The house centres around an internal courtyard, with an open-plan living space that spills outdoors. Inside, space is used cleverly, providing moments for interaction and relaxation with built-in furniture and the blurring of boundaries between different zones.

The back wall of the studio provides privacy from the street and a soft linear backdrop to the front yard. The architecture of both structures is box-like and modern, with a sense of symmetry in the layout and elevation.

Fitting with the streetscape

The studio appears to float, with Vulcan cladding formed from random width battens that create a rain screen, which allows full impact of the cladding without the need for flashings. A silicate finish was chosen due to the street-facing location, surrounded by established buildings.

“While the studio has a modern aesthetic compared to the rest of the street, we also wanted it to blend in,” says Shane. “So using silicate, which weathers off to a natural finish, the studio stands out enough without making too much of a statement. Especially with the planting and grasses that we’ve used, the slow weathering has helped it settle into that environment.”

Sustainable choices

The choice to use Abodo products for his own home and workplace was made after Shane viewed a friend’s project that used Vulcan cladding and read up on the timber product. “We had a look at his house, looked at the timber, and did some research – then we met with Daniel Gudsell (Abodo founder) and Ben Campbell (Abodo’s Technical Director) and saw an opportunity to use something that’s more sustainable than traditional timber options,” he says.

This led to the architectural designer using the product on a house in Riverlea, before specifying it for his own house, something which he says exemplifies his support for the product. “People can be apprehensive about anything new, so by using Abodo timber we’re showing that we’re not just recommending solutions but that we’re using them ourselves.”

Designing for longevity

Inspired by mid-century modern architecture, Shane looks to create buildings that won’t date. As well as creating great buildings that fit into New Zealand’s coastal environment and rural settings - which are another huge influence - Shane believes his studio has a duty to provide good architectural solutions for New Zealand homes.

“This has become more of a priority, the more projects I’ve worked on,” he says. “We have a responsibility to look into what we’re using and where it comes from, and with Abodo, it was great to work with a New Zealand company rather than an importer.”

Products

See more about the products that have been used on this project.

Abodos Vulcan Timber Panelling for walls and ceilings
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