Bending to meet the needs at Calia Restaurant.

In the heart of Chadstone’s Fashion District, Calia Collective’s Japanese-inspired restaurant-to-retail concept highlights fluid architectural design, in conjunction with expert knowledge of materials and the building process.

The vision of March Studio, an award-winning Australian architecture firm, was a distinctive curved design feature stretching across the restaurant’s walls and ceilings using real timber dowel. However, the practicalities, logistics and costs of using real timber in this complex design soon madde such a feat completely impractical.

However, with its versatility, architectural features and premium timber aesthetic, Covet’s Ever Art Wood made March Studio’s vision possible.

Curves used in architecture have always been a practical challenge for builders and shopfitters but work wonderfully to soften a building’s aesthetic impact. In practice, it cam be time-consuming and expensive, depending on the materials selected. A high degree of craftmanship is required for some materials to achieve consistent, accurate curves, especially if a tight radius is involved. Pre-softening is also required for some species of wood that are more difficult to bend. Careful considerations also need to be made with respect to the grain, preparation and thickness of wood, avoiding unsuitable stock for the intended application. Curves are typically non-standard for battens and panels, so bending them to the desired specification can lead to wastage and additional costs.

Ever Art Wood’s round hollow-section aluminium battens provided a cost-effective and practical solution for achieving the unique curved design designed for Calia Restaurant. It’s ability to be bent easily to a tight radius and realistic wood grain pattern and textures enabled the designer to successfully deliver the desired real timber aesthetic. If other materials had been selected, the high degree of visual depth and warmth would not have been achieved so successfully.

Overcoming the Difficulty Curve

Approximately 4km of 30mm diameter Ever Art Wood Koshi aluminium battens were utilised in Calia’s project for its centerpiece feature. Made out of fire-rated aluminium, Koshi battens are lightweight and dimensionally accurate. The batten itself is a standard hollow section that replicates a plain timber batten with no need for special fixtures or fittings. Koshi battens were integrated into the restaurant’s curved design in three fundamental ways.

First, sections were bent to a radius of 1,200 mm.

Second, the battens were mounted on curved supports.

Third, the battens were cut to size and installed to create curves using staggered lengths.

Covet’s timber look aluminium battens offer several benefits compared to real timber. They have comparatively low maintenance requirements, with no oiling or surface treatment required. They are easier to manipulate than real timber, enabling them to create dimensionally accurate and consistent curves, extremely important in this project. This characteristic was critical to delivering its superb seamless finish.

As Anthony Scott, director of Covet, explains: “Our Koshi battens were proposed by the shopfitter – timber dowel was originally specified. It is rare for an installer to advocate for a more expensive product, however, the advantages of using Ever Art Wood were clear. Our product was easier to bend and would deliver the consistent, clean lines that the designer wanted without warping while presenting a realistic timber look finish.”

Down to Final Details

Careful consideration of feature details to maintain its visual appeal and the authentic timber look and feel added to the overall realism of the final design. “The battens were screw-fixed with screws directly through the batten faces which, in my opinion, makes it look even more ‘real’ as that is how you would install timber dowel,” Scott notes. “This was made into a feature detail by using counter sunk black screws.”

Covet developed a solution to finishing the Koshi batten end caps that was visually consistent with the centerpiece feature. This was incredibly important for the project as it was critical that the realism of the timber aesthetic was not diluted.

A round, custom vacuum-sealed batten end cap was developed by Covet for the installation. Individual end caps were hand-trimmed and inspected in their Japanese manufacturer’s factory to ensure they matched the same Supuringu Oku colour and texture as the battens.

Key to the project’s success was Covet’s comprehensive and flexible customer service. This enabled them to accommodate challenging lead times, specific requirements, and more. Scott continues: “The project’s lead time was short, and we worked in providing a couple of shipments – one by air freight, one by sea – so the project could keep to schedule. We also used part of the air freight delivery to coordinate bending of the battens to meet the timeframe. This highlights the customer-focused, solution-driven service that we provide.”

Project specs

Cladding Profile

Ever Art Wood® Koshi Hollow Section Battens

Radius

1200mm

Ever Art Wood®

Supuringu Oku

Finish

Textured

Fire rating

Performs well when tested to AS/NZ 1530.3 (spread of flame / index 0) and AS/NZ 3837-1998 (result / Group 1)