PGH Bricks & Pavers has introduced a new style guide to help Australian homeowners identify a unique look for their home exteriors. For the new style guide, PGH Bricks has curated eight distinct styles designed to inspire innovative façades.
Architects and designers will agree that one of the biggest challenges they face on new build projects is helping their clients identify their personal style, which would simplify the creative briefing process. While the client may have several visual references picked up from magazines or the internet for inspiration, when it comes to actually choosing the colours and textures for the façade of their new home, they’re still not sure what they want.
To address this problem, PGH Bricks & Pavers commissioned Nexus Designs to work with them on curating eight distinct ‘styles’ to inspire homeowners. Each of the eight palettes cleverly encapsulates contemporary trends balanced perfectly with a chic, timeless aesthetic.
The new Style Guide comes complete with mood boards and schemes to help customers visualise each look without any complexity or confusion. All the styles are created using brick, a material that can be both stylish and enduring in any exterior home design application.
“We have spent time working with architects and designers to listen to their pain-points and understand how PGH Bricks could help alleviate some of the issues they faced when designing exterior façades,” says Jai Sanderson, PGH Bricks & Pavers' General Manager Marketing. “We wanted to provide meaningful inspiration and assistance to help homeowners building in brick, discover their own personal style preferences before they reached the point of having to make final choices on colour and texture.
“We also made a decision not to just repackage the clichéd whole-house styles such as Hamptons or Coastal. Research told us that what home builders related to more is the actual combination of colours and textures that resonated more with their personal tastes.”
Brick has the unique ability to be both enduring and stylish in design applications. An all-time favourite that has the popular vote in the building industry, bricks will always be in vogue. The choices just get broader every day with so many colour options and textures available today.
Once homeowners have identified their personal style using the guide below, they can embark on the exciting journey of designing and building their dream home.
Watch the full video here.
PGH Bricks Style Guide
1: Sophisticated Neutrals
Mixing refined shades of crisp white, stone grey and cool concrete, this sophisticated yet understated palette makes it suitable for a wide range of homes and lifestyles. Using bricks such as Blanco from the Morada collection, these calm, fresh hues are great for infusing homes with a sense of space and light and the overall look is classic, timeless and quietly confident, offering wide appeal.
2: Grey All The Way
This look is all about layering different shades of grey for a home with long-lasting elegance and sophistication. As well as providing the perfect complement to crisp white accents and fresh garden greenery, natural tones like Matterhorn ensure that striking architectural features remain a focal point. “Grey is our new versatile neutral; it can be calm and serene, gritty and industrial or stunningly dramatic depending on its application,” says Sonia Simpfendorfer, creative director at Nexus Designs.
3: Dark and Stormy
For those looking to make a statement that is at once bold and fearless, yet chic and elegant, this dramatic palette will ensure their home stands out from the rest. Incorporating charcoal greys, bitter chocolate, Deep Ocean shades and gleaming metallics, Dark and Stormy is simply breath-taking. It is also highly adaptable, equally at home in rural or urban areas, and ideal for showcasing clean lines and beautiful architectural detail. Pewter from the Metallic collection is perfect for creating this look.
4: Back to Nature
Using bricks such as Hessian from PGH’s Sandstock collection, this look draws inspiration from nature, botanical elements, wood, stone and earth. It combines rustic shades of bronze grey-greens and soft browns with sand and ochre, to create a feeling of tranquillity, simplicity and warmth. Renowned architect Julian Brenchley, who has used PGH bricks for many years – including on hit show The Block – says: “The key to knowing your style is about having confidence in what you like, what makes you happy and what you enjoy. Look for colours textures and designs you connect with; choose finishes and building materials that you like and feel comfortable with and then incorporate them into your home.”
5: Red Revival
From earthy terracotta and dusky pinks to classic, pure reds like McGarvie Red, this look sees a familiar colour re-imagined into the exciting and new. Red Revival lends a timeless but high-impact look that works with all homes – from tiny cottages to grand, sprawling mansions. No longer considered the safe, suburban choice, red bricks are now celebrated for their natural beauty, classic colour and honesty. Red Revival is particularly impactful when juxtaposed with a green landscape. “The striking contrast of a strong red brick exterior and green lawn is hard to beat for impact,” says Simpfendorfer.
6: Perfect Imperfection
More and more, homeowners are looking for that imperfect, rustic, handmade look. From furniture to entire house façades, they are eschewing glossy, perfect finishes in favour of materials with nicks, knots and scratches for a look that’s characterful and warm, and tells a story. To produce this look, consider a custom blend of bricks that appear handmade, such as Chelsea from the Manhattan collection, whilst keeping the colour scheme tonally similar. That way the emphasis will remain on the texture and imperfections of the material, which impart that coveted unique, one-off appearance.
7: A Touch of Texture
From rough against smooth, cool with warm, or matt juxtaposed with glossy, this look is all about using different textures to bring depth and interest to the home. Texture is just as effective as colour when it comes to adding character to exteriors and interiors and it also provides a feeling of craftsmanship, especially when using beautiful bricks like Vangogh from the Crafted Sandstocks collection. A popular choice with style-savvy homeowners, A Touch of Texture offers endless combinations and will add a rich, artisanal beauty to homes.
8: Industrial Chic
Originally inspired by urban loft and warehouse living, the Industrial Chic look is created by combining raw, aged and utilitarian materials such as brick, timber and steel. This look is all about clean, simple, contemporary living but without compromising on warmth. Industrial style bricks are also ideal for blurring the boundaries between indoor and outdoor living and can either be the hero of a home or a striking feature within a variety of finishes. Crafted Sandstocks Jackson and Manhattan Tribeca are ideal for achieving this look.
Download the Style Guide
Each of these eight stunning looks cleverly combines contemporary trends with timeless elegance to help homeowners easily identify their personal style and express this in their home. Moreover, with brick being so versatile now in terms of finish and colour, all styles can be easily achieved without compromising on the quality and durability of the build.
Check out these beautiful mood boards and download the Style Guide today.
For further inspiration, information and tools on these styles, please visit www.pghbricks.com.au/styles.
