Tairua Insitu House by Neu Architecture

Situated on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, Tairua has been a popular seaside settlement since the 14^th century, luring inhabitants with its sheltered harbour and white-sand beaches.

Designed by Gavin Donaldson, Director of Neu Architecture, this holiday home takes inspiration from the area's rugged beauty to create a restful, relaxing haven for its owners that is also robust and low maintenance—essential for the harsh coastal environment.

The palette of insitu concrete required a complement of equally hardy materials and engineered timber flooring from Forté was specified for the main living and high-traffic areas.

“It’s a luxurious engineered oak product with an incredible depth of colour and a beautiful raw-look matte finish,” says Gaius Piesse. “It is supplied pre-finished and protected by a beautiful raw-look lacquer to shield it from the sun’s harsh rays, while also providing a substantial level of scratch-resistance and durability—making it ideal for use in coastal situations.”

Designed to provide a lifetime of elegance

“The colours are timeless, natural and authentic—with grounded tones and soothing textural finishes. The layered accents and tonal variations add character to any contemporary home but also integrate flawlessly into heritage designs. They help provide a safe environment to retreat to and are naturally calming. In this project, the colour captures the many tones of the coastline and supports a beautiful indoor-outdoor flow.

“During the manufacturing process, the surface is deeply brushed to reveal the natural wood grain and its knots and cracks complement the typography of the surrounding landscape. Its undulating surface and original saw-markings give a look reminiscent of hand-cut timber and provide texture you can both see and feel. It is luxurious underfoot and provides the interior-equivalent to that glorious feeling of sand beneath your feet.”

Of the environment, for the environment

“The majority of our products use oak that has been sustainably sourced from European and French forests and are either FSC or PEFC certified. Although these forests are ethically maintained, it is important for us to give back to the environment, so we are also committed to replanting what we use.

“In 2017, we used approximately 2,000 trees—so in 2018, we planted 2,000 oak trees to offset our usage. The trees were planted in the Forest of Forté in France. We also use FSC-certified and recyclable boxes to send our samples, print our catalogues on FSC-certified papers and actively reduce our in-house paper and plastic usage.”

Forté is a third-generation family business, supplying a comprehensive range of timber flooring, decking and wall covering products throughout Australasia, with the largest stocked range of timber flooring in New Zealand. 

“Our product range is inspired by the latest global flooring trends and our brands are all exclusive to Forté in New Zealand and with more than 35 years’ experience in the timber industry, we are widely recognized as the experts in our field,” says Gaius.

“We are constantly scouring the globe in search of new and upcoming timber trends and working with our suppliers to translate them into products that New Zealanders will use and love—like our latest offering, The Artiste Collection.

“Inspired by some of history’s biggest names in the fine arts—Picasso, Monet, da Vinci, van Gogh and Vermeer—The Artiste Collection features an appealing smoked oak veneer surface and continues Forté's commitment to supplying high-quality, aspirational products.”

Learn more about Forté engineered flooring.