One of the things that excites us most is seeing our products used to solve novel design problems, or in a way that challenges traditional limitations around what timber can achieve.
In Design in Detail we take a closer look at some of the projects where Forté products have been applied in new, interesting and “wait, how did they do that?” ways – picking the brains of the professionals involved to learn more about the vision behind a particular feature, and the skill involved in bringing it to life.
For our first installment we zoom in on an elegant curved wall feature in Ponsonby wellbeing studio, Mode – executed to smooth and seamless effect using our Muuro wood panelling. Here, designer Buster Caldwell and builder Bevan O'Shaughnessy explain in their own words how it came to be.
She wanted a studio that softened the tempo of training with a space of calm and care. A place that celebrated movement, but also recovery. Somewhere you’d want to stay a little longer, even after the session ends.
The space was a subterranean shell with a workspace above, and how it felt to be inside was just as important as how it looked. Surfaces needed to work hard, but not feel hard. That meant a lot of care around finishes that could withstand impact, moisture and movement, while still feeling soft under hand or foot. The palette is stripped back, spartan and elemental: Concrete gave us weight and grounding, tile brought rhythm and repetition, timber offered warmth and tactility - the human touch.
Because the palette was so rigid, it needed visual softening through means of form, so the curve was there from the start. We knew the transition into the recovery zones needed to feel different – less about function, more about feeling. The curve was designed to invite you in and softly move you through the arterial route.
We were familiar with Muuro, having used it a few times in projects, but hadn't yet seen it achieved on a curved wall. We were initially drawn to a lighter tone, but in our subterranean setting it lost its warmth. In the end, a deeper shade helped retain that visual comfort we were after.
There’s a richness to it – the tone, the grain, the consistency of the battens. The vertical linear tongue & groove structure also added a quiet visual repetition that wouldn't have been present in a ply-clad solution – it felt elevated but not showy, and offered simplicity with the installation. Being pre-finished it also gave us full control of the outcome.
If you’re looking to incorporate a similar feature in your own project, push for the largest radius you can; too tight, and it risks a faceted finish. We love the grand gesture of a generous, swooping curve. Also, involve your builder early, and order a few spare panels so they can test, tweak, and refine – a curve like this isn’t off-the-shelf; it needs care, attention and ownership of the craft.
Every second project has curves in it currently, and we’ve done a good number in sheets linings and vertical ship lap timber, but this was the first time in a veneer so we were genuinely excited for the challenge. We've used Muuro on many occasions – but always on a flat substrate.
The client set us a challenge of not just having vertical boards following a curve but also the boards themselves having a curve across the 140mm of the board – to that we unleashed Diego our in-house qualified joiner to work his magic. It took several mock-ups in our warehouse but he worked out a system of shaping, bending and generally coercing the boards to do as required!
[Muuro] is a great veneer to work with; consistent in its finish and generally one of the better feature products on the market.
We were really happy with the outcome of the wall – the team still smile about it!