House 3: A darkly elegant contender
House 3 sits as a commanding presence on the corner position of this year’s Block. Our Colour and Design Professional, Kaela Turgeon, shares her thoughts on how to best bring the property to life from a design perspective. Its exterior already makes a strong colour statement, with a dark upper level and lighter colours below. Kaela explains the impact that this combination has: “By using a dark colour on the upper level, it draws your eye to the architecture element of the charred timber cladding. The depth in colour is then balanced on the bottom level through the use of dark trims in the windows and doors. Using a light-coloured brick on the bottom level helps give the high contrast needed to emphasise both the Japanese charred timber cladding known as Shou Sugi Ban and dark trims”.
Image: Organic, elegant and tactile with the use of Japanese charred wood, Shou Sugi Ban, and shiny statement pieces.
Kaela advises taking these external colours through to the interior, creating a unique and enticingly warm environment. “I want to take the warm tones through from the brickwork, with dark internal accents inspired by the dark colours seen on the Shou Sugi Ban cladding, windows and door trims”. As with the other houses, Kaela’s design and colour recommendations came together in a detailed, large-scale flatlay. “I began with the strong design elements of the home being the Shou Sugi Ban charred timber and Levanto marble which is perfectly complemented by the use of COLORBOND® steel Monument®. I can see a true link to nature within the colour selection - it allowed me to conceive a more organic palette. The scheme is very tactile, so I wanted a flatlay design that allows you to see each material in a larger format to get the full impact”.
Asked for a quick summation of the colour palette she has presented, Kaela shares these five words : “Organic, Elegant, Japanese Inspired, Tactile, Moody”
The competition has now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. The winners will be announced soon.
Each year, The Block manages to bring with it all sorts of impressive firsts on many different levels. Adding to the list this year is the unique COLORBOND® steel installation team on Kyle and Leslie’s eye-catching monochromatic masterpiece - House 1.
This season on The Block, COLORBOND® steel is set to feature in all sorts of exciting and innovative ways across this year’s five houses.
It’s that time of year again when The Block is back to grab the attention of millions of viewers across Australia. Let’s quickly dive back through our time on The Block and share some of the highlights.
We’d like to take a moment to compliment the skill and dedication of a select group of customers and partners that have enabled us to showcase COLORBOND® steel and highlight the attributes it can bring to a construction project like The Block.
COLORBOND® steel launched three new colours in 2022, and all three feature on The Block this year. These new colours bring a fresh direction to the COLORBOND® steel palette, along with the durability to perform in some of Australia’s harshest conditions.
Part of the challenge this year on The Block, is to work with the architect's exterior scheme from the very start!
House 1’s façade has a modern coastal feel, but with elevated profiles and materials that pay homage to the coastal environment and the home’s history with the repurposed warm toned bricks.
House 2’s design concept is focused around a modern version of mid-century design both internally and externally. Mixed materials were a huge influence in mid-century design including the use of mixed shapes like linear and curved lines.
House 4 is possibly the most “traditional” house on the Block, with the external look highly inspired by the so-called board-and-batten style of modern cottages.
The neutrality of the Bluegum® colour works perfectly within House 5's design concept which blends urban aesthetics with a bohemian feel.