Taubmans paints and coatings were specified for a new bespoke apartment building located on an island site in Kelvin Grove, west of Brisbane’s CBD.

Three buildings, Vista, Horizons and SkyView, comprise the Urban Edge development created by developer and builder Pradella, and designed by Rothe Lowman. The buildings represent a bespoke and highly site-specific development shaped to take advantage of environmental conditions and picturesque views. SkyView offers a mix of one, two and three bedroom dwellings with the building designed in the form of a series of tiered terraces to create the ideal conditions of resort-style living.

The materiality of SkyView’s construction was understood early in the design process, and consists of painted precast concrete and blockwork, with some timber batten screens and structures at the lower levels.

The robustness of the material palette necessitated the specification of the right paints and coatings as they would go on to have a large impact on the appearance of the building. Taubmans, which had worked with Pradella previously, was able to provide the highest level of service and the right products to meet the required specification.

The subtropical location of the building demanded a product with the ability to withstand the environmental conditions as well as offer a usable life exceeding ten years. Taubmans’ Armawall system was chosen for the exterior paintwork to meet these requirements, and was applied with a texture similar to a light render. Armawall is capable of withstanding subtropical conditions, resisting fading, peeling, cracking, and mould development for many years.

A base palette of a simple white and grey scheme, with highlight colours in yellows and oranges selected for feature elements, was used for the building exterior. A pixelated feature pattern was cast into the formwork for the precast panels on the facades with paint and colour applied to this feature to highlight the pattern on the facade, providing visual interest.

The apartment interiors feature one of three different colour schemes characterised broadly as a dark scheme, a light scheme and a neutral scheme. Wall colours, combined with joinery, floor finishes and selected stone, timbers and laminates, composed each scheme. Taubmans Easycoat was specified for the interior paintwork as an ideal product for the ambient environmental conditions.

To ensure that the bespoke apartment building would age and weather well, SkyView developer Pradella relied on their long-time project partner Taubmans to provide the right paints and coatings for the application. Taubmans not only supplied quality products but also provided the exceptional service they are known for, by conducting regular site visits during construction and ensuring that surface preparation and coating applications were being executed to the highest standard.

Horizons’ feature colours were green, and Vista’s feature colours were blue, thus differentiating the three tiered building forms.