Since 1991, PeterFell has become ‘world famous in New Zealand’ for being synonymous with coloured concrete, developing an innovative process using liquid oxides to significantly broaden the range of colours available.
“Prior to my father coming up with this process, the traditional way of colouring concrete was to use powdered oxides from which you could only choose from between 6–8 colours,” says Brennan Fell, Managing Director of PeterFell.
“Since those early days, we have been able to extend the colour palette to more than 80 colours across 10 ranges from SuperWhite to SuperBlack and the full spectrum in between.”
The company hasn’t just settled for leading the way in coloured concrete either, recently undertaking a redevelopment of its website to provide a more interactive experience for its users, which has culminated in the introduction of the PeterFell Design Tool.
“As a concept, we’ve been working on the Design Tool for the past 18 months,” says Brennan. “From a technical perspective, development took around 6–8 months to get it to where we were happy to release it to the public.”
Brennan says the impetus behind creating the Design Tool was to streamline and make accessible the process for choosing the right concrete product.
“We wanted a mechanism that would combine all aspects of choosing a concrete product into a step-by-step process that would allow architects/designers and their clients to synchronise the overall project.
“We see this tool as being particularly useful to the end user market as, traditionally, they have been the least involved up to this point. By giving them an opportunity to make these choices and to understand, on a basic level, the nuances behind them, then they’ll be in a better position to make the best decisions in conjunction with their architect or designer.”
Starting with the space they’re looking to design—floor, patio or courtyard, driveway and paths, walls, pool surround, or commercial or public space—users then select up to three colour choices from the PeterFell range; then they select from one of seven textures; next they decide if they want to include a pattern or not, before the final decision of choosing which level of protection they want their concrete to have. The last step customises the information into a single report which can then be emailed to all relevant parties.
Within 2–3 days, Brennan says they will receive a sample piece of concrete customised to their specifications.
Brennan goes on to say: “Most people know that concrete is more than just a substrate and that it is a viable option as a beautiful flooring solution in its own right and we at PeterFell are proud of our involvement in promoting that awareness.
“Over and above that, our hope for the Design Tool is that it will help specifiers and end users see all the possibilities for using concrete in their projects—especially when used in conjunction with our other solutions such as our polishing and texturing systems—and how concrete can be used to truly create unique spaces. As with most things of a design nature, we realise concrete is subject to changing trends but we really hope that people will embrace it for its aesthetic possibilities as much as for its functionality.”
