Issue 31 August/September 09

A custom-designed concept for a show home in Thames illustrates timber in a contemporary setting.

Words Charlotte Lane     Photography Craig Robertson

For some, the word Lockwood conjures images of a dark, timber home from the 1970s. While that may have been true then, the new Lockwood Homes designs are anything but. Still true to their solid-wood style, the houses now however feature light timber, contemporary designs and styles to suit even the most demanding of customers. And they don’t groan and creak like they used to either. Once upon a time the houses were quite noisy, but now a strip of tape between the tongue and groove of the boards makes them extremely quiet. 

This house was built by Coastwood Homes, a very busy franchise of Lockwood Homes. Although it's primarily used as a show home, the dwelling was built to promote a unique ‘concept’ design. “We really tried to go outside the square with this home,” say company directors Glenn and Shar Horsley. They selected new Lockwood Laminated Pine boards for the solid timber exterior, alongside wide expanses of glass, to create a very modern external form. This timber is a quarter-sawn board, which has been finished with a striking Resene ‘Cool Colours’ stain, to create a black Lockwood exterior.

“Normally the exterior is powder-coated aluminium, which cannot take dark colours, as it makes the aluminium move on the pine board,” says Katie McDonald, of Coastwood Homes. “So this is really a first for Lockwood. It really opens up the options for exterior colours.” The Pine is also very environmentally friendly. “Wood is Earth’s most renewable raw material, and using it is vital in the fight against climate change. The more wood we use, the more carbon is stored. The more trees that are grown to replace trees used in building a Lockwood house, the more oxygen is released into the atmosphere, and the better off our entire world will be.” Not only does wood take less energy to produce, it also releases less CO2 than other building materials, such as steel and concrete. 

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