Rethink what is possible: James Hardie + Lineburg Wang Collaboration

Continuing the launch of Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding, James Hardie announces its second design collaboration - this time with architects Michael Lineburg and Lynn Wang of Brisbane firm, Lineburg Wang. With Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding and its supporting range of junction and corner accessories, Lineburg Wang explores new architectural concepts for the contemporary home. Their ideas come to life with Pleated House a conceptual extension to a Queenslander in inner-city Brisbane.

Pleated House connects a traditional timber Queenslander to the sloping terrain of a typical Brisbane backyard. The handsome extension creates light-filled, contemporary rooms that open onto a terraced garden. “The concept retains the old Queenslander and imagines the new extension as an ‘anchor’ - something that ties the house to the rolling hillside,” Lynn explains. “We wanted to ensure the contemporary architecture didn’t collide with or overwhelm the Queenslander, so it’s designed to be sensitive to and relate to the original house but also be distinct from it.” The extension comprises a double-height kitchen and living room with a mezzanine bedroom positioned to look beyond interior spaces toward framed vistas of sky and landscape. The terraced garden centres around a monolithic fireplace and flue, rising skyward to bring gravitas to the outdoor-living arena.

The exercise to explore the possibilities and benefits of Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding prompted Michael and Lynn to return to first principles of design. “We always enjoy the challenge of exploring new products and new ways of construction - whether they be with bricks or blocks or sheet products,” Michael says.

“There is a perception that sheet cladding can be one dimensional, but we don’t think so. We wanted to demonstrate how a sense of movement can be achieved through the layering and pleating of panels and how a sense of depth can be amplified when textured surfaces combine with sunlight and shadow.”

Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding wraps the tall rooms of the extension giving its robust form a luminescent, textural finish. “We wanted to celebrate the fact that the cladding is self-sufficient in the sense that it doesn’t rely on cover battens or stop mouldings to be waterproof,” Lynn says. “The cladding can turn a corner seamlessly and abut another sheet with a simple shiplapped joint.” The facade of Pleated House expresses the subtlety and rhythm of such panel connections. A strong datum is struck by horizontal joints establishing the pleated expression of overlapping edges - similar to the way the chamfer boards of the adjacent Queenslander overlap. “We wanted to amplify the textural quality of the cladding to create depth in the facade,” Michael says. “So, we used full-length, 3600mm panels to create a top-heavy form and a pleated, layered detail that accentuates the shadow and texture already inherent in the cladding.”

To promote cost efficiency and ease of construction, Lineburg Wang designed the extension to embrace the inherent qualities of Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding. “The dimension of the sheet guided the size of the bespoke windows and doors,” Lynn says. “The tall window, for example, sits in the place of a 3.6 x 1.2 metre panel with the sliding door the equivalent dimension of 5 panels.” To reinforce a sense of mass, windows and doors have deep, oversized reveals. This is particularly apparent on the ground floor, where the exterior wall folds inside to create a metre deep recess. Hardie™ 9mm Aluminium External Slimline Corners are integrated to achieve crisp corner junctions.

Pleated House progresses ideas about contemporary living and the evolving relationship between the social rooms of the home and the exterior realm. “The kitchen has become a key social space - the heart of the home. It is rarely the back-of-house zone it once was,” Michael says. “So, our concept focuses on the kitchen as a social room adjacent to outdoor space, offering connection to both its immediate and broader landscape.” Pleated House embraces the subtle and nuanced to carefully stitch together component parts and reinforce a sense of cohesion and freedom in our domestic lives.

Words by Michelle Bailey

Embedded content: https://youtu.be/3iWow_TER3k

More about Lineberg Wang

Lineberg Wang is a Brisbane based architectural firm focussed on bespoke residential and commercial projects. In 2020 Houses Magazine awarded then Winner of the Emerging Architecture Practice prize saying "Lineburg Wang’s depth of interrogation of each new residential brief is impressive, solving pragmatic concerns with poeticism. Although there is a consistent and gentle aesthetic evident in the work, the practice takes a sensitive and contextual approach to each unique design problem."

More about Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding

Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding is the latest innovation from James Hardie. The pre-textured fibre cement panel is connected to each other with shiplap joints, bringing subtle shadow lines and a gentle vertical rhythm to the facade. The surface, which is pre-sealed and ready to paint, has a texture reminiscent of fine render which diffuses light to give a matte finish.

Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding offers architects and designers more creative freedom to explore the possibilities of lightweight construction and considered joint detailing. Individual panels are supported by a range of corner and junction accessories by James Hardie, specially designed to streamline the installation process and deliver a consistent, quality finish upholding the integrity of the design.

Available in 1200 wide sheets in common wall heights up to 3600 for minimal joints and maximum coverage. The ideal cladding choice for non-combustible construction with the added performance benefits of fibre cement such as long term durability and low maintenance.

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