The choices architects and clients make for finishes, surfaces and furnishing products are fundamental to the character of a completed building project. At the start of the design process, thinking might focus on simple ideas about colour, texture and utility. But as the fine detail gets filled in, questions become more specific – what paints and coatings will create the right effect? Do we need applied surfaces to define zones or provide special functionality? Will I get into trouble if I bring home another colour fandeck?
Many people never realise how many different shades of white there are until they set out to choose paint! Experienced architects and interior designers, however, know that colour is only one decision they’ll have to make. Surface preparation, for example, is vital – choose the wrong sealer, primer or undercoat and the paint won’t stick properly. And consideration for the conditions a surface will be subjected to is also non-negotiable. There’s exterior paint and interior paint, of course, but also kitchen and bathroom paint for wet areas and antimicrobial paint to inhibit mould growth, specialised ceiling paint that hides imperfections in the substrate, and many other products optimised for specific applications.
All this talk of function-specific paint might sound very pragmatic, but there’s actually a lot of fun to be had with it. Imagine an entire meeting room, or perhaps even a children’s bedroom, painted with whiteboard paint. Some producers call it write-on wall paint – imagine the response when a couple of preschool-aged kids hear that! Grown-up kids might get more pleasure from the craftily deceptive visual effects of concrete-effect paint, say, or copper-effect metallic paint, which can transform a space and magic away the perception of being in yet another plasterboard-lined room.
Of course, changing what you see doesn’t change what you smell, and some paints and coatings have a greater propensity for “off-gassing” – a result of volatile organic compounds used in the production of the paint itself. Thankfully, more and more low-VOC or VOC-free paints are available, which tend to have less smell upon application and less emissions throughout their useful lives.
For all of this, however, sometimes a coating other than paint is required. For example, timber elements might be coloured with wood stain and coated in a protective clear finish. In a wet-area application, such as bathroom joinery, that same timber might need a water-repellent coating, and the floor beneath it, whether it’s timber, stone or concrete, an anti-slip coating.
Applied surfaces can be grouped in all kinds of ways – gloss versus matt, interior versus exterior, natural versus synthetic – but in the end, every specification decision comes back to three primary factors, functionality, aesthetics and budget, and two basic modular formats, panels and tiles.
The functionality of both formats is perhaps most apparent in kitchens and bathrooms, where water-resistant panels such as laminates, timber veneers, melamine, acrylics and glass are used for joinery and splashbacks, mouldable acrylic for benchtops, wet-area wall panelling for walls, and porcelain, ceramic or stone tiles are applied for flooring and wall cladding. The aesthetic options in these spaces are incredibly diverse – a bathroom might be designed around the colour and texture of glass mosaic tiles, unglazed matt porcelain tiles, double-glazed ceramic wall tiles or marble tiles; likewise, a kitchen could be brought to life with printed splashbacks, laminate splashbacks, quartz surfaces for benchtops and magnetic glass panels on the wall for keeping notes, children’s artwork and takeaway menus!
In commercial projects, a key aspect of functionality is durability, so we find high-performance fibreboard panels and high-pressure laminates, wall lining systems, acoustic modular tile systems and other wallcoverings that can cope with high volumes of pedestrian traffic, and often that are geared towards cost-efficient installation. Decorative elements can then be inserted as features, or installed as recurring motifs throughout a fitout, rather than being the dominant surface material. This can include all kinds of products, such as satin-etched patterned glass, mesh curtain and decorative mesh glass, or some other decorative screen, high-gloss board, upholstery fabrics, textiles and furniture linoleum to soften fixtures and fittings, or perhaps a reception counter faced with slumped decorative glass cladding. Organic surface coatings can bring the natural look and feel of plant matter, with leaves and other plant matter integrated into modular panels, while aerated concrete architectural finishes enable the construction of lightweight walls that look and feel like concrete or even rusted metal.
Some commercial projects have very specific functional requirements for applied surfaces, and there are invariably products to match – for example, antibacterial high-pressure laminates and healthcare fabrics for hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, or chemical-resistant laminate and fire-retardant surfaces for laboratory surfaces. Then there are applied surfaces that provide additional benefits, such as polycarbonate sheets and photovoltaic glass, that protect interiors from the elements while bringing in light and visual effects or generating electricity.
And finally, when these products have been specified, and beautiful walls have been designed, they often have to be interrupted by switches and sockets, so it’s worth taking the time to look for complementary accessories such as slim powerpoint coverplates or picture hanging systems, that accentuate the surface not the infrastructure!
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