A new paint finish for an emerging New Zealand aesthetic

You could be forgiven for thinking that here in New Zealand there is only one colour—black. But that’s not entirely true, there’s at least 30 shades of black alone… All joking aside, we Kiwis do tend to have a proclivity towards darker, earthy tones and are also drawn to matte surfaces.

The move towards darker hues and muted finishes has reached a high point with the introduction of COLORSTEEL^® Matte, a paint technology specifically designed to diffuse light and create a soft textured look for your roofing or wall cladding.

“COLORSTEEL Matte incorporates micro-wrinkle technology to create a textured finish with both subtlety and depth that isn’t always notable in a standard gloss finish,” says Sam Stenson, Brand Manager for COLORSTEEL.

“The micro-wrinkle technology allows the paint surface to reflect light in multiple directions rather than in a uniformed manner straight back at the viewer, which results in a diffusing effect giving the painted surface an enhanced matte finish.”

Released in 2019, Sam says COLORSTEEL Matte is a premium product that has been steadily gaining in popularity, particularly within the high-end, architectural market where a contemporary and sophisticated style is expected.

“Designed for roofing, wall cladding, garage doors, fascia and rainwater applications, COLORSTEEL Matte will elevate your exteriors and help create a sleek, modern look. This contemporary finish is especially stylish when paired with a tray profile and can also be used with trapezoidal and corrugated profiles—actually, there are no restrictions and it can be used with any profile.”

“We’ve chosen an industrial palette of just three colours: FlaxPod^® Matte which creates a refined, sleek aesthetic. It’s a sophisticated soft black with a hint of warm brown tones - a natural fit in the New Zealand landscape; TidalDrift^®, a contemporary charcoal grey. The ideal accent for a wide range of architectural designs delivering a bold but sophisticated finish; and SnowStone^®, A cooler white tone, which delivers a subtle freshness and neutrality to structures.”

Sam says there has been a big uptake of the product in areas such as Queenstown and Wanaka—especially in FlaxPod and TidalDrift—where local councils have stringent light reflection restrictions in place.

COLORSTEEL Matte uses the same paint system as all COLORSTEEL^® products. 

“COLORSTEEL Matte offers the same performance capabilities with regard to UV and corrosion resistance as all our other COLORSTEEL products. Similarly, it carries the same warranties as the standard COLORSTEEL product range, which does of course depend on local climatic conditions and the substrate used.

“Essentially though, in what we would classify as a very severe environment (for properties starting around 25m above the high tide mark) you can expect a warranty for perforation of 15–25 years on roofing products; and in severe environments (for properties starting around 100m from the high tide mark) a warranty on perforation of 20–30 years on roofing.”

Sam says more information around the types of warranties and their conditions can be found on the COLORSTEEL^® website.

Learn more about incorporating COLORSTEEL Matte into your next project.

This article features the Huntsbury House project, built by Smylie Builders.